Hide & Seek
by BlueArchive
Summary: A case in Utah pushes Emily to her limits while, at the same time, the walls of the stable life she thought she had built at home starts to falter and comes crumbling down.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hello there! Well this is my first attempt to write fan fiction. My plan is to make this a multi-chapter story but right now I'll just publish the first chapter which can be read as a one-shot. I will not update this story on a regular basis right now due to school and other stuff going on in my life right now so this will remain a one-shot for quite a while. I don't have a beta so any errors is my fault and it is my responsibility to correct them so please feel free to pm me if you find any so I can make this story better. Moving on. I have already made my excuses for my English in my profile so let's just skip that and move on to the disclaimer. _

_Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the TV show is not mine, it belongs to the CBS. The plot to this story and everything and everyone you don't recognize from the show is a product of my imagination and of that, I am the owner._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek **

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

"_It's all fun and games 'til somebody calls the cops. Then it's hide and seek."_

_\- Unknown_

"... Happy Birthday to youuu!" the team sang in unison. Their eyes glistened with joy and they all had a slight red touch to their faces thanks to the burning candles placed all over the round table.

It had been five months since Emily had declined Clyde's offer to run the London Office and stayed with the BAU, her family. She had after an internal battle let her love for the team win over _The feeling_. She was done with running. It may not felt like home at the moment but she sure as hell was going to try to make it feel like that again. If she didn't, Doyle had won. He would had taken away the thing she love, her family. She wasn't going to let that happen, he had already tore apart her family once. The first thing she had done after making the decision to stay was to tell the team. They had somehow picked up that she considered taking Clyde's offer and leave, again. When she told them about her decision they were all thrilled and the whole thing ended in an endless amount of hugs.

But it didn't really end there. A few days after Emily had made her announcement Garcia had thrown her a Yay-for-staying-party and the whole team had eaten so many of Garcia's delicious muffins that they weren't able to move within the next four hours.

After the party Emily had brought Derek aside to ask him a question. She didn't remember why, but at that moment she was very nervous which was very uncharacteristic for her. Derek had already done so much for her and asking him for another favour seemed to push it to the top. She had finally, after chewing on her thumb nail and biting her lip, asked if he could come with her and look at the house they had been looking at before the whole bank robbery chaos took place. He had laughed at her nervousness of asking him and happily told her that he would come with her.

The next day they where once again walking around in the house they had a few days before and was absorbing its beauty. The cracks in the foundation was still remaining but this time Emily wasn't going to use them as an excuse. Of course she was still a bit worried that it was a bad purchase but after some convincing from Morgan and a promise that he would help her fix them she had talked to the real estate agent and signed the deal. Morgan had been thrilled and his eyes had sparkled like a child's on christmas eve when they later that day had gone for coffee a few blocks down the street to discuss the renovation of her new home.

Now, Saturday night, sitting at the round table dressed in a black knee-length dress supplemented with a pair of black stilettos and taking small sips of her delicate wine, which Rossi had ordered for everyone except for JJ and Kevin who was serving as drivers tonight, and looking at the happy faces of her friends she was more convinced then ever that she had made the right decision in staying.

Everyone was gathered in the cosy restaurant to celebrate Hotch's birthday. In the question of bringing the two young boys they had all made the decision for tonight to be a night for the grown-ups.

Emily observed that almost half of the team had settled their roots down and had found a loved one. JJ had Will and they seemed just as madly in love as when they first met. Garcia and Kevin had made up after the wedding and now they refused to let go off each other. Hotch had once again found love and Emily was convinced Beth was the best thing happening to him since Jack's birth. After everything he had been through he deserves to be happy. Reid hadn't found a partner but he was still young. Rossi on the other hand had a little less time in front of him but he hadn't long ago lost his first wife and Emily knew she had been the love of his life, even though he had divorced her and gotten remarried, twice. Her own best friend seemed happy still living the life of a single man but Emily had the feeling he was starting to consider settling down with someone and start a family, he had always been amazing with kids. Then it was herself. She had for three months been dating her current boyfriend Dylan. In the beginning she had avoided telling her team about him afraid it might not last but now, three moths later, she couldn't use that as an excuse for them still not knowing about him.

Hotch broke Emily's train of thought by expressing his thoughts about the team's effort to put together this event. "You really didn't have to do this for me you know." His face was covered with one of those very rare smiles.

"Oh stop talking nonsense my birthday Boss man. We didn't do this because we felt we _had_ to, we did this because we care for you and _wanted _to do this," Garcia said flinging her arms around indicating the nice restaurant they had lured their boss to enjoy a delicious meal and was now on to the desert. "Now, shut you mouth and blow out the candles!" This made the whole gathering burst into laughter and urged Hotch to do as Garcia said.

"Oh, oh and don't forget to make a wish!" an exited Reid squealed.

A slightly emotional Hotch leaned forward and blew out the candles neatly placed on top of the fruit cake. Everyone could see he was moved by Garcia's kind words and they all applaud after all the candle had gone out. After blowing out the candles he leaned for his girlfriend and gave her a soft kiss. Morgan started to wolf-whistle and Garcia wasn't slow to follow. Emily feeling in a good mood joined in to and soon the whole table was clapping hands and rejoice escaped everyones mouth. Both Hotch and Beth blushed from all the attention and even though his actions only minutes before had brought the unwanted attention to them Hotch couldn't help himself to place a small peck on Beth's mouth before starting to cut the cake.

"What did you wish for?" Reid wanted to know after everyone had calmed down and pieces of cake was being passed around.

"Don't tell him!" Garcia shouted. "If you do, your wish won't come true!"

"Oh come on, Baby Girl, you don't really believe that do you?" Morgan said.

"You know I do," Garcia answered while digging in on her cake.

"Do you also believe in black cats crossing the road giving you bad luck?"

"Of course I do. I also believe in horoscopes, lucky charms and soul mates."

"I think I can tell you what I wished for without anything too bad happening," Hotch said smiling at Morgan and Garcia's discussion.

"Fine, but if something bad happens during the next days I'm going to blame you, my dear Team Leader," Garcia said while leaning back against the chair and started sipping on her wine.

This made Hotch hesitate but Emily couldn't wait any longer. "Come on Hotch, just tell us. Nobody is going to blame you if something bad happens." Pointing at Reid sitting across the table from herself Emily continued speaking. "We should actually blame Red since he was the one asking."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Reid exclaimed in a high-pitched voice and looked at Emily.

Morgan, sitting next to Emily, started chuckling and held up his fist for her to bump. Emily did so and continued grinning. Rossi shook his head at the childish behaviour but couldn't hold back the smile forming on his lips. He looked at the woman he saw as his daughter and felt his heart swell. He had already lost her once and he was so happy with her decision to stay put. Not willing to admit it to anyone but himself he wasn't sure he could handle losing her again. Well he wouldn't have lost her like he had the first time but still, going to work everyday without seeing her face would brake him. He would probably not think twice about retiring and moving to London just so he could be there to watch her back. That girl had a tendency to bring trouble to herself and Rossi felt obligated to protect her. He had no doubt Morgan felt the same way. Ever since Emily had returned from the dead, their friendship had deepened and in the field they moved as one person. A look from the other was all they needed to know what to do. Having such a strong partnership as they had was everything a law enforcement could ask for. They would give up their own life for their parter in a heartbeat.

"Just tell us Hotch. I can be the scapegoat if anything bad happens," the old agent said and chuckled.

"Okay, I wished for everything to stay the same. I wished for keeping my team just as it is because I couldn't wish for a better one. I also wished for everyone sitting at this table to be happy because I know I am and everybody deserves to know the feeling. The feeling of wanting to wake up in the morning because you know what's waiting for you in real life is so much better than anything you can dream of, both at home and at work. We have had our problems, all of us, and maybe because of those problems we are all sitting here today sharing our love for each other and I couldn't wish for something better. Every one of you sitting around this table will always have a special place in my heart and I hope you know that," Pausing Hotch took a breath and squeezed Beth's hand. "And that is what I wished for," he finished with his voice full of emotions.

During his speech the assemblage had fallen silent and had listened with great intensity to what Hotch was saying. To say his words ha affected them would be un understatement. Garcia hadn't managed to keep the tears from falling and JJ was struggling to keep them at bay but didn't succeed. Reid felt a warmth in his heart he hadn't felt in a long time. Rossi was so proud of his friend for speaking those words, he knew how hard it was for Hotch to express his feelings for his team and their loved ones. Will thought about how lucky he was to be going to spend the rest of his life with the woman he loves and Kevin was honoured that he was included in those words his girlfriend's boss had been speaking. Beth had never let go of Hotch's hand and her gaze was filled with so much love for the man that it was hard to describe. As for Morgan, he had in the middle of Hotch's speech reached for Emily's hand laying on the table and held it tight.

Emily had some trouble herself keeping the tears from shedding and had, when Morgan first grazed her hand, looked away from Hotch and gazed into the warm, loving, brown eyes of her partner and squeezed back. Yes it had been the right decision to stay, no doubt.

"I think you touched a soft spot there," Rossi said and the whole table chuckled lightly.

"You could say so," JJ said while wiping the tears off her face.

"Yeah, I think Sugarplum here needs a few tissues," Kevin announced looking at his girlfriend.

"For future notice, you should really give us a heads up before you start going all emotional. It gets a lot less messier if we have the time to put on water proof mascara," Garcia said while trying to wipe the moisture of her face with a napkin without totally messing up the make-up. "I mean, look at poor JJ over there. Can't you see how she's struggling?"

The table burst into a heart-warming laughter since the one person really struggling was Garcia herself. JJ had, with some help from Will, managed to restore her face to normal and was now laughing at her friend's lame attempt to blame her own struggle on someone else.

"I think the person we really should be worrying about is you, Hot Mama. Kevin you might want to help her out a little since she keeps getting the opposite result to her wishful actions," Morgan was referring to the fact that while trying to wipe away the traces of misplaced make-up, Garcia manage to smear it out even more.

"Come on, Sweetcheeks, give me the napkin," Kevin grabbed for the napkin and started helping Garcia wipe off her misplaced make-up.

"I don't mean to be the party trooper but are we going to get any cake at this side of the table?" Reid wondered indicating where himself, Emily, Morgan, JJ and Will was placed. His eyes kept darting back to the plate of cake standing in front of Garcia sitting next to him. Before his speech Hotch had managed to pass out cake to Beth, Kevin and Garcia. In front of the others where empty plates waiting to serve their purpose.

Once again the gathering started laughing. Leave it to Reid to complain about the missing cake.

Hotch spur back into action and soon everyone had a pice of cake placed on the table in front of them.

"Oh my God! This is amazing!" Emily exclaimed as she took the first bite of her piece of cake.

"Careful there, Princess, we wouldn't want you to have an orgasm here at the table," Morgan teased and earned a playful slap on his shoulder from Emily.

"I haven't eaten a cake this good in years so shut your pretty mouth and let me have my food orgasm without you ruining the whole thing," she said while digging into her piece of cake.

Morgan just looked at his partner and chuckled. Amused he watch as she took yet another bite of the cake and enjoyed its taste.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone enjoy cake as much as you do, Emily," Garcia said with a smirk.

"Well moving around a lot made me appreciate the smaller things," Emily answered as she scoped up another bite. "Such as amazing food." She paused her intake of cake to take a sip of her wine.

Morgan, who had already finished his piece of cake, just had to steal a piece of her remaining cake. He would probably never admit it but the cake was a damn good cake. He stuck his fork in her cake and made a quick journey to his mouth.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Emily shouted panic evident in her voice as she tried to stop the fork from reaching Derek's mouth but it was too late.

Morgan laughed at the look on his partner's face.

"You stole from my amazing piece of cake! Did your mother not teach you manners, Derek Morgan?!" Emily was glaring at a laughing Morgan struggling with the pain his laughing caused his stomach.

By now everyone was laughing at the humorous scene taking place at the birthday table.

"Children behave," Rossi, who sat on the other side of Emily, urged while touching her shoulder slightly. "I'm sure there is plenty of cake left for you to share."

"As long as he doesn't eat it all," Emily muttered and settled back to enjoying the remaining of her cake. She was now watching Morgan carefully and whenever he got too close to her plate for her liking, she made a move at his hand with her fork. JJ shook her head at her friends' childish behaviour which maybe her four year old son would posses, not her very grown up coworkers. She caught Will's eyes and knew he was thinking the same thing.

* * *

The evening continued pretty much the same. After some amount of wine Emily had forgotten all about Morgan's stunt and was now happily charing her glass of alcohol with him. Small talk was made and every now and then a strain of laughter could be heard from their table. It wasn't until JJ glanced at her watch she realised how late it had gotten.

"We should probably get going. I'm sure Annie would like to sleep in her own bed tonight," JJ said indicating their babysitter.

Hotch frowned as he looked at his own watch. It showed half past twelve. "I guess we should head home to. I think Jessica would appreciate a break from Jack by now."

The parents started to gather their things and stood up. Just as Hotch was pulling out a few bills from his wallet Emily spoke up.

"Put those back. Don't you dare try to pay for this. This is _our_ gift to _you, _which means we're paying."

Hotch was about to protest but was cut off by Morgan. "Listen to the woman. I thought you had learned by now that they're always right. Even if they're wrong."

"Hey!" Garcia, JJ, Beth and Emily exclaimed. Emily also took the opportunity to slap Morgan's arm smiling. Morgan started rubbing the spot she had hit.

"Next time someone else is sitting next to her," he said tilting his head at Emily.

"I sat next to her too and I never got exposed to any physical harm," Rossi shrugged and rose from his chair. The team laughed at Rossi's comment. "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm heading home too."

"Maybe we all should head home," Reid said glancing at his watch. "It's starting to get late."

"Okay, just let me finish this glass and I'll get going," Emily said and pointed at her almost empty glass of wine.

"What do you say Kevin? Shall we leave these kids and go home?" Garcia said and nodded at Emily and Morgan.

"Yeah, we should probably get some rest."

Garcia patted Kevin's thigh and started to stand up, he wasn't late to follow.

"Well I guess it's just me, you and this drunk here left then, Kid," Morgan laughed and placed a hand on Emily's back.

"I've only had three glasses, Mister," Emily said with a smirk. "Which is way below my alcohol tolerance," she continued blinking one of her eyes at him.

This made Morgan laugh and place a small kiss at the top of Emily's head. How could you not love the woman?

"Well I don't really know how to thank you for this evening," Hotch said slightly uncomfortable.

"A hug will do fine!" Garcia said and embraced her boss in a colourful hug.

JJ followed after Garcia had let go and gave her boss a hug. They also gave Beth a hug before stepping back to let the men say their goodbyes. Will and Kevin both shook hands with Hotch and gave Beth quick hugs. Rossi didn't follow the two men but embraced both Hotch and Beth in big hugs. The others started to say goodbye to each other and as they did Emily rose form the table and gave Hotch a hug.

"I'm so glad you decided to stay," he stated as they held each other.

"Me too," Emily answered smiling while ending the hug.

The goodbyes continued flowing through the room and the last person Emily said goodbye to was Rossi. He gave her a big hug and placed a small kiss on her cheek.

"I take it you make sure this one gets home safely," Rossi said to Morgan.

"You have my word, man."

Emily tried to brush over the mens' protectiveness of her but was actually moved by how much they cared for her. Exactly like Hotch, she couldn't wish for a better team. Rossi let go of her and started walking towards the door where the rest of the persons leaving was already standing. The team had decided to split the bill between them and therefore had everyone except Hotch left a few dollars to the remaining Agents to pay when they left.

"I don't want to hear anything about someone at the station tomorrow. You all deserve some time off work. Paperwork can wait until Monday, take tomorrow off and do the best of the day!" Hotch said and snook his arm around Beth's waist.

"Thanks man, drive carefully!" Morgan called as they watch the group leave the restaurant.

"How are you getting home Reid?" Morgan wanted to know.

"Oh I made plans with Garcia and Kevin to carpool," Reid said sipping at his glass of water. He had given up the wine a few hours ago because he didn't like how alcohol made him feel.

Both Emily and Morgan glared at Reid and did not understand how someone so smart could be so stupid.

"You mean the people who just left?" Morgan asked amused.

That's when Reid realised why they both where staring at him with such amused looks. To be able to carpool with someone it was facilitate to leave at the same time as the person driving the car did. Emily could see Reid realising his mistake and giggled at his face expression.

"I better hurry before they drive off!" Reid said and quickly rose from his chair. "See you on Monday!" he shouted over his shoulder as he ran towards the doors.

Emily and Morgan laughed at their friend hurrying out from the restaurant.

"He is suppose to be a genius but sometimes he is dumber than Sergio," Emily laughed.

Morgan just shook his head and chuckled. "Some days I think his IQ is limited to statistics and math."

"I agree."

After finished laughing Morgan spoke up. "So what are you planning for tomorrow now that Bossman gave us some unusual free time?"

Emily considered what to answer and soon came up with one. "I'm thinking of reading a book in the park or maybe unpack the last of my boxes. You?"

"I recently bought this property I'm thinking of heading out to. Maybe break down some walls and start painting."

"That sounds like fun," Emily said genuinely.

"You gotta come with me some day. I think it's time for you to help me some now when we've finished your house," Morgan said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Hmm, maybe I could read that book and unpack the boxes some other day," Emily laughed and emptied her glass.

"So you're up for tomorrow?" Morgan asked with a big smile plastered on his face. Spending the day at his property sounded good but having Emily there with him sounded ever better.

"Yes, I would love to."

"Awesome, Princess!" Morgan said while his smile grew wider if even possible.

Smiling at his excitement Emily stood up and put on her jacket. Arriving to the restaurant she hadn't been in a need of the jacket but now, about to leave the restaurant at one in the morning, she would sure as hell need it even though it was the beginning of May. Morgan followed her actions and waved for the waiter to pay the bill.

After paying they walked out in the chilling night and waved for a cab. It only took a few minutes before a cab stopped and they hopped in. Morgan told the driver to drive to Emily's address and they rode silently, enjoying each others presence. The ride didn't take long and soon Emily was stepping out if the cab in front of her home. Morgan was about to follow before she stopped him by bending down and looking into the cab.

"I know you told Rossi you would make sure I got home safely but let's not forget that I'm a trained FBI agent who can take care of herself," she smiled.

"Ever so stubborn," Morgan chuckled and stayed in the cab. "See you tomorrow!"

"See ya!" Emily said before slamming the door and waited for the cab to drive off before walking to her door.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading this and please leave a review so I know if I did well or not. Don't expect the whole story to be this happy because that ain't what's waiting for you. I hope you had a good read and remember to take care of yourselves fellow Fanfictioners! _


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hi again! I've finally got some writing done and felt like I could publish the next chapter. I have to warn you, this is no way as happy as the last one. If violence is not your thing, I recommend you don't read this. As to the fact of updating, I__'m not sure I will be able to post frequently but I'll do my best. _

_For those of you who have visited my story before, you may have noticed that I changed the summary. That is because the old summary could only be applied on the first chapter. Now, I'll just shut up and let you guys read._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek **

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

Emily inserted her key and opened the door. Stepping inside, she locked the night out and turned on the lights. What met inside her made her nearly jump out of her own skin.

"Dylan! You scared me. What are you doing here?" She managed to get out after her heart had stopped trying to crack her ribcage and jump out of her chest. Thinking about it Emily wondered how her boyfriend had gotten into her apartment, she hadn't given him a key and was confused about how he had gotten inside.

"I was waiting for you but apparently you decided to come home way after midnight!" His voice wasn't the normal loving one she was used to and she couldn't help but to feel hurt by his harsh tone directed towards her.

"I was out celebrating my Boss's birthday, which I told you about three days ago. You knew about this!" Emily didn't care to cover up her own irritation. She was tired and _not _in a mood for an argument.

She stepped further into her apartment and dumped her handbag on the kitchen island. His glare followed every move she made.

"Well I didn't think you would be out until after one am!"

"Since when do I have to inform you when I'll be coming home and speaking of which, how did you get in here?"

"I asked your neighbour to let me in."

"And he just did?!"

Emily had, while giving him a spare key to her house to help her feed Sergio when she was away for a case, specifically talked to him about letting people into her home. Ever since Doyle, Emily had been careful about who to let inside.

"I told him it was an emergency and it was since you were still not home by eleven!" Dylan took one step closer to her and his body towered over hers.

With her heels she was almost as tall as him but he had a few inches on her. You didn't need to be a profiler to know that he was angry. His body language would tell you that in less than a minute.

By now Emily was starting to get angry herself. Who did he think he was decided when she should be at home and not? Sure, he was her boyfriend since three moths back but that didn't give him the right to decide for her how to live her life.

"I think I have the right to return home at any hour I want to without you questioning where I've been!" Emily snapped.

Fuelled by her snapping at him, Dylan took the few steps separating them so that he was standing right in front of her. "Don't use that tone while talking to me, Emily," he growled.

"Oh, now you're telling me how to speak to you too! I can speak to you however I want!" she shot back.

Who did he think he was telling her how to act and how to talk? He was talking to her in the exact same tone she was using against him but that didn't seem to matter.

"Don't push me, Emily!"

Dylan's usually bright green eyes were dark. By now she was starting to wonder what had gotten into him. Why was he acting so weird? During the three moths they had been dating, he had been nothing but kind to her. Never had he raised his voice and never had she seen those dark eyes.

Even though, she couldn't help to talk back.

"Don't push you?! Are you serious?! I'm not the one trying to pick a fight here!"

Before Emily knew what had happened Dylan had grabbed a hold of her right wrist and pulled her against him. "I told you not to push me," he said, his face inches away from her own.

By now Emily was scared but she refused to let him see it so she stared straight into his eyes.

"Let. Go. Of. My. Arm." she said and emphasised every word.

Dylan glared back but did as he was told.

Once he did so Emily took a step back, not comfortable standing so close to him when he was acting like he was. Where had the loving and kind man she fell in love with gone? Because that was the truth, she had a hard time admitting it to herself but since a week back she was pretty sure she had fallen in love with him.

After being quiet for quite some time he spoke again.

"You have been drinking," Dylan stated with a tone of disgust.

Emily was taken aback. Since when did he have a problem with alcohol? During their first date, he had been the one insisting they should order a nice bottle of wine to go with the dinner.

"And I sure as hell hope that's not the dress you wore for your Boss's birthday party!"

Emily looked down at her dress and didn't understand what he meant. The dress was covering more skin than most of the dresses out there. It didn't even have visible cleavage which Emily had been careful to make sure it did to cover up the four leaf clover still branded on the left side of her chest.

"What is wrong with this dress?!" Emily demanded to know.

He let his eyes wander her body, making Emily uncomfortable, before answering. "Well first of all, it is way too tight to wear in front of your co-workers. And secondly, it makes you look like a whore," Dylan said and threw his arms out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! This is the exact same dress I wore on our third date!" Emily screamed as her discomfort transformed to rage.

"What's wrong with me?! With _me?!" _Dylan yelled. "I'm not the one dressed like a hoe!"

Emily took a small step back at his harsh words. She was fighting so hard not to show him how much his harsh words affected her. Her eyes were burning from unwanted tears threatening to fall and she blinked rapidly to make them vanish. How could she ever think she loved him?

* * *

The screams kept echoing from Emily's home throughout the night and it wasn't until her phone started ringing that they stopped.

She reached for her phone in her bag placed on the kitchen island, looking at it she saw it was Hotch calling, and was just about to answer when Dylan snatched the phone out of her hand and answered himslef.

"She's not available right now," he said and ended the call.

During his short exchange of words with her Boss, Emily started to move towards her door to get her jacket. She had only taken two or three steps towards it before she felt a hand on her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Dylan growled while grabbing her arm and yanking her back to him.

Emily turned to face him and spoke with as much calm as she could manage at the moment, which wasn't much.

"To work. That's usually why my Boss calls me at-" Emily glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above the dining table. She didn't believe what it read, bloody _seven am!_ They had been arguing for freaking six hours!

"- Seven am." Emily finished off her sentence.

"Oohh, and you always come running when your Boss tells you to," Dylan mocked with a voice Emily didn't recognise.

His eyes was filled with disdain, something she never though she would see in Dylan's eyes until this day. This day Dylan wasn't the man she fell in love with during those amazing moths together. This day Dylan was someone else, a shell of his old self and Emily couldn't help but to wonder what had made him change so completely.

"'Emily I need you here at the station.' 'Emily I need you to pick up some food for the team on your way over here.' 'Emily I think some coffee would be nice, would you be an angel and make some?' 'Emily I need you to pick up my laundry.' 'Emily I need you to stay late tonight.' 'Emily suck my dick!" For each one of his mocking sentences his voice grew louder.

He imitated what Emily reasoned must be his twisted version of Hotch since he was indeed her Boss but never had he said such things as Dylan asserted.

If she wasn't pissed of before she sure as hell was now. Never in her life had she followed others' orders like a submissive woman. She would _never _let anyone treat her like that, just telling her what to do and not letting her decide on her own.

By now she was furious and the only thing she wanted to do was throw her boyfriend out. But not before getting her phone back, which he still had a tight grip on.

Emily tried to retrieve her phone from Dylan's grip, not willing to take his bullshit anymore but he used both his hands to push her away from him straight into the wall next to the fridge.

Her head connected with the frame hanging on the wall and pain radiated through her head. The pain made her legs unsteady and she closed her eyes, trying to regain her balance.

During her attempt to fight off the dizziness, she could hear Dylan's angry breathing. Once she opened her fluttering eyelids, she could see how he was pacing the room in angry strides and how he later placed her phone on the far end of the table behind him.

"What the hell?!" Emily finally managed to get out after steading herself and overcoming the worst of her dizziness.

She made a move to grab her phone and did barely have the time to register the hand coming at her face as she did.

Pain exploded from her lower jaw when the hand connected with her face and the force behind it sent her flying for the bench in her kitchen. Her back collided with the handles of the cabinet drawers, which made the air escape her lungs.

She reached out for the bench to keep herself from falling and fought to get air down her lungs again. Her mouth throbbed with the rhythm of her heartbeat and she knew he had split her lower lip, maybe even given her jawbone a crack. She put one of her hands on her jaw and opened and closed it to see how much damaged he had done. It hurt like a bitch but from experience, she could tell it wasn't broken.

Once done with her injury check-up she shifted her gaze from the floor to meet his eyes. He was staring back at her, not a single sign if remorse showing in his eyes. She took a deep breath and spoke between gritted teeth.

"We are _soo_ over!" She still had some trouble breathing so she had to take a short pause before continuing. "Get the hell out of my house!"

Clearly pissed off by her talking back, he screamed at her. "Do you think you can tell me what to do and not to do? You're not the Boss here, I am!"

Reaching for her bag still laying on the island, she picked out her gun and aimed it at Dylan.

"I said_ Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. My. House_!" Emily made sure to emphasise every word leaving her mouth, making sure he understood how serious she was.

Staring back at her, Dylan made no move to leave. Emily un-did the safety of the gun and held it with steady hands levelled at his chest.

"If I were you, I would get the fuck out of here before I decided to put a bullet to your little once."

As she spoke she shifted her aim from his chest to his crotch.

This made him take one small step for the door, then another one and another one. For every step he took, Emily made sure to keep her gun aimed at her target.

He was now standing by the door reaching for the handle.

"If I ever see you again I won't think twice about keeping my promise," Emily said as he opened the door and walked out.

As the door closed behind him Emily rushed over to it and turned the lock. She even put the chain on before taking a few steps back only to break out into uncontrollable sobs.

Her emotions were a roller coaster. Anger, hurt, confusion, disappointment, pain. And worst of all was that her heart felt like it was falling apart, bit by bit. One crack leading to another.

She let herself slide down against the door and pulled up her knees. Her actions made a string of pain jolt through her body but the pain really threatening to break her wasn't the physical one, it was the emotional.

Getting whacked on the head with a 2x4 she could handle. Also getting run off the road, not a problem. Hell she would even triad getting poled by Doyle against the pain she felt right now. This wound wasn't one you could stitch up and prescribe some painkillers to get rid of. This wound was hurting her from the inside and out, threatening to consume her.

She didn't know how long she stayed in the same position, crying her eyeballs out but when glancing at the digital clock on her radio she shot back up in her feet. If she didn't get to work soon, her team would arrange a search party for her and she wasn't up for that.

She wiped her face with the back of her hands and went to the kitchen to retrieve her bag. Because she had wasted so much time crying her eyes out for some jack ass she didn't have the time to change clothes.

She was going to have to do it at the station, she reasoned. She always had a pair of clean clothes stuffed in her go-bag so they will do.

She didn't waste any time on looking at her phone which she knew would hold at least a dozen text messages from both Garcia and Hotch. She was pretty sure that if she checked she would find a few from Morgan too.

She didn't trust her own voice enough to call to tell them she was on her way so she didn't. They would notice when she showed up.

Taking her car keys in her hand and putting her jacket on, she unlocked the door and let her eyes search the street outside before walking to her car. There was no sign of him and she hoped he had gone home.

She inserted the key and backed out form the parking space. Her drive to Quantico was fast thanks to the low amount of traffic. After putting her car into park, she allowed herself to take a few seconds to improve her looks.

"You got thirty seconds," she told herself before angling the review mirror her way.

What met her was the face of a broken woman. The tears she didn't know she had been shedding had left marks on her cheeks. Her lip was swollen and the cut dividing her lower lip into two had almost stopped bleeding but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't make it stop completely. She fixed her by now long hair to cover as much swelling as possible. She had, during the five moths since she decided to stay, let her hair grow longer and by now it was back to the length it had been three years ago. She couldn't do anything about her wrinkled dress and looking at her right wrist, she could see a black bruise staring to emerge.

Deciding that her thirty seconds of calm before the storm was up, she stepped out of her car and headed for the elevators.

From the moment she stepped inside the elevator, Emily had tried to decide whether or not to lie about how she obtained her injuries. After a number of failed attempts to come up with a credible lie she had, with a sigh, settled on the decision to tell the truth. They would find out sooner or later anyway, they were all Profilers after all.

The ride went quicker than she wanted it to. She stepped out when the doors opened and started to walk towards the glass doors leading into the bullpen.

Inside the glass doors there was almost no activity at all, what you could expect on a Sunday morning.

She put her handbag on her desk but left her jacket on, it covered up the bruising around her wrist and probably some of it on her back. The dress she was wearing was cut pretty low, which left parts of her back exposed. She took one deep breath before staring to walk up the stairs leading to the catwalk who lead to the briefing room.

The door separating the catwalk and the briefing room was slightly ajar and inside she could hear Garcia briefing the team about a new case. She put her hand on the doorknob, pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Her action caught the team's attention and upon seeing Emily's face Garcia stopped talking and gasped.

The team, not able to see what had made Garcia stop talking, turned around and found Emily standing there. The fact that she was wearing the exact same clothes as the last time they saw her didn't slip by any of them. Neither did her bruised face, split lip and sad eyes.

With all of them staring at her she felt like she needed to say something. The best she could come up with was to excuse herself for being late.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said as she studied everyones reaction to her appearance. The whole situation reminded her of when she faced the team for the first time after returning from the so called dead.

Nobody seemed to care for her excuse, their main focus was on finding out what had happened to their friend and co-worker.

A small "Oh my God!" could be heard from JJ and looking at Reid, Emily was sure his eyes were about to pop out from his eye sockets.

Rossi's eyes radiated pure concern and the expression on Hotch's face wasn't the one to expect from him. He usually keeps his mask of professionalism on, not letting any emotions show but now his face was a dam of emotions. Confusion, worry and Emily was pretty sure she could detect an ounce of guilt.

Morgan on the other hand wasn't afraid to let his emotions consume his facial features. As soon as he had gotten a look of her face, he had flung up from the chair he had been sitting in while listening to the briefing and went straight to her side.

"What the hell happened!?" Morgan exclaim as he changed his position from sitting to standing.

Uncomfortable was the only word Emily could use to describe the situation. She hated being the centre of attention. She wasn't sure if they could tell she had been crying but she was pretty sure her eyes were still blood-shot.

"Who did this to your face?!" Morgan said frustrated with not getting any answers from his friend.

He carefully took a hold of the unbruised part of her chin and turned the bruised side to face him. As he did he put his other hand on the back of her head, placing it where only forty minutes ago a frame had made it impression.

The contact to her head wound made her hiss in pain and her reflexes made her yank away from his touch.

Not sure what had caused her to hiss in pain and yank away, Morgan searched for her eyes. When gaining eye contact his black orbs was filled with concern and rage. He wasn't willing to admit it but he did feel a little hurt over her pulling away from him but he quickly ignored the feeling. Now wasn't the time to be selfish.

She broke the eye contact and put her arms around herself. As profilers the team knew this was a way for her to separate herself from the others. She was starting to put her walls up.

To everyones surprise Emily cleared her throat and started to speak up.

"What happened is that my boyfriend, _ex-boyfriend,_" she corrected herself "thought I was in need of some Botox and decided to take it up on his own to make sure I got it."

Her rather harsh statement had everyone stunned.

"Wait you have a boyfriend?" JJ had never heard of anyone and was confused. She looked at Garcia to see if she knew anything about it. The look on her face told JJ she didn't.

"I _had _a boyfriend before he decided that I was a whore and accused me of cheating," Emily answered.

Morgan hadn't listened to the words exchanging for the last minutes. All he could think of was that some dude had beaten his partner. After she had told them, all he could see was red. It took him every ounce of strength he had in his body to stop himself for running out of the room to go looking for the son of a bitch and beat him until he was unrecognisable.

"He hit you?" Morgan finally managed to ask after calming himself down a bit, his voice full of emotion.

His question got Emily's attention and she turned to him. The pain in her eyes was all the answer he needed but the small nod and her small 'yeah' confirmed it to the others.

"I'm going to kill him!" Morgan growled.

"No, you're not, Morgan," Hotch said in his most authoritative voice.

"Can't you see what he did to her?!" Morgan said indicating the large bruise on Emily's jaw and the split lip.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Emily argues, trying to calm Morgan down.

Both Agents ignored her comment and continued their argument.

"Yes, I can but I don't think killing him is going to solve the probl-"

Hotch was cut short by a yelp from Garcia.

"Chocolate Thunder you're bleeding!" she shrieked, pointing at Morgan's right hand.

Not sure what she meant, Morgan looked down at his hand and yes indeed it was blood on it. The problem was, the blood wasn't his. He didn't have a cut anywhere on his hand which meant the blood had to come from someone else. Realisation hitting him, he was once again at Emily's side gently putting his hand at the back of her head.

"Ouch!" Emily said as he hit the fresh wound and tried to pull away.

Morgan kept her still and examined the back of her skull.

"Emily, you're bleeding," Morgan remarked, worry tinting his voice.

"You should go to a hospital," Reid voiced full of concern. "If you hit your head you could have a concussion. There are between 1.6 - 3.8 million sport related concussions reported in the U.S every year and the number of non-sport related concussions every year is-"

"I don't need a hospital, it's just a small gash," Emily said cutting Reid off before he started his non-stop rambling of statistics. Also basting herself out of Morgan's hold on her head. "Nothing I haven't come across before or can't handle," Emily stated with a firm voice.

That was the sad truth. During her lifetime Emily had sustained so many wounds and breaks she was amazed how the hospital personal was able to carry her medical chart around.

During the last seven years she had been smacked on the head with a 2x4 by a mentally unstable dad, been beaten while held hostage by a crazy cult leader, been run off from the road by a truck, been staked on a pole by her old nemesis, been shot in the shoulder by a delusional teenager and almost blown up twice in one day thanks to some whacko bank robbers. In that order. And that was just the list from her time with the BAU. If you were to look at the part of her medical chart from her days with the CIA you would probably get a headache from all the reading. Now she could add getting hit by her deadbeat boyfriend to the list too.

From the looks on her colleagues' faces, none were convinced.

"Seriously, I'm fine," Emily insisted and walked in her high heels to the empty chair standing next to the one Morgan had been sitting in.

The headache she got from being thrown around in her kitchen was starting to bug her real big and her feet was aching from being squeezed into a pair of high heels all night.

At that point sitting down seemed like a nice gesture for both her head and her feet but as she slumped down in the chair, she had to rethink her decision. The drop made her headache worse and she had to close her eyes to focus on getting through the pain.

Once she opened them again, she was met by Morgan's dark orbs.

"_I'm_ _fine," _Emily tried to reassure them with a sigh. "It's just a headache. Now can we _please _focus on the case?"

Garcia looked at the Team Leader for guidance whether or not to do as Emily told them to and after receiving a small nod from Hotch, she started where she had left off.

"As I was saying, last night the body of Carmichael Smith, 64 years of age, was found blown to pieces in an abandoned warehouse."

On the screen behind her photos of black limbs could be seen. Garcia was careful not to turn around knowing what horrors were being exhibited behind her.

"During the last three weeks, three more bodies have been found in the exact same condition but in different locations in St. George, Utah. All were positive IDs to known addicts. Those bodies would belong to the first victim Samantha Winters, age 26, followed by vicim number two and three Tom Scully, 35 and Nick Ice, 16. Samantha Winters was found, in pieces, in an old blown up house. Tom Scully, not with the correct anatomy as to say his body was by then body_ parts_ scattered all around, was found in the woods next to a destroyed portable toilet. Our young Nick Ice had the liberty to be found in one piece, him in an abandoned tool shed."

Garcia inhaled before continuing.

"But here is the hanky thing. Before these murders were committed, the local authorities was sort of notified. And that my lovelies, is starting to freak out the big bad Policemen in St. George. According to the Detective in charge, and this is an exact quote, "it feels like me and my men are playing a game of Hide and Seek we don't know the rules of"."

She pressed the remote in her hand and a new photo showing a map covered replaced the gruesome images on the screen. This photo, Garcia wasn't afraid to look at.

"This is a map the Police got from what they believe to be the killer. As you can see, a specific area is circled with a red marker and right here..." Garcia said pointing at a spot on the map "... is where our ol' fellow Carmichael Smith was found."

Once again Garcia pressed a button and three other maps popped up on the big screen.

"Similar maps to this one was sent to the local cops before all the other murders occurred and now, after failing to rescue the victims, they called us and asked if we could help. Our creep also sends them a photo of the victims so they know who they are looking for," Garcia said and made a face.

"What the local cops have figured out though is that the bomb doesn't detonate until approximately twelve hours after the map have been received," she finished and sat down at the table with the others.

During the briefing Emily had felt her teammates glancing her way but she choose to ignore them. The truth was, if the situation had been reversed she would probably have done the same thing just to make sure they were alright.

She was drawn back to reality when Rossi spoke up.

"Well, it is obvious that the UnSub is looking for attention otherwise he wouldn't provide the maps to the Police."

Everyone nodded in confirmation.

"But the question is why hasn't he contacted the media yet? That's the easiest way to get attention," Rossi questioned, looking at his tablet containing the information about the killings.

"You're right. If his, or hers, main urge was to kill, sending maps to the Police of where the victims are being hold would totally screw up his plan," Morgan speculated. "So our question is what drives this UnSub?"

"I don't know but we're about to find out. Wheel's up in thirty! We're going to Utah," Hotch said and rose from his chair.

* * *

_A/N: So what do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts! Until next time! :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: First of all I just want to say thank you to everyone who have favourited/followed this story, it makes me really happy! To those who reviewed, you are loved. Feedback always makes me more eager to keep writing. l'd also like to say a special thank you to Shadpup who decided to sacrifice some time to help me make his story better by sharing some writing tips. Thank you!_

_As to the updates of this story. The reason for my rather frequent posting lately is a so called Autumn-break we have here in Sweden. It's given me the time to write more than usual and for that I'm thankful. My plan though is to try to post a new chapter maybe once every two weeks, we'll see how that works out. If that's not possible for some reason, I will at least post once a month._

_I do apologise for this extremely long author's note but I just wanted you to get a picture of how I'm planing to proceed with this story. _

_Now on to the story. This chapter probably contains a lot less action than the last one but I think it will keep you interested anyway. Now enjoy!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

After Hotch had made the final verdict, everyone started to rise from their respective chairs. Reckoning her experience when sitting down, Emily was careful not to rise too quickly. She could see the team eyeing her while doing so but avoided getting eye contact with any of them.

"I'm not blind you know," Emily said indicating their stares.

Realising he was busted, Morgan reasoned it would be best to speak his mind. "No but you might be suffering of a concussion and I don't want you dropping to the floor."

"I won't since I do _not _have a concussion!" Emily assured them, frustration evident in her voice. "I really do appreciate your concern but if you keep watching over me like hawks I'm going to slap you." Pausing Emily looked from one profiler to another. "All of you," she finished off her threat.

This made Rossi start chuckling quietly and caused a small one of Hotch's unusual smirks appear.

"That's our Emily," Rossi stated and gently touched her shoulder on his way out of the briefing room.

Hotch, JJ and Reid soon followed which left Emily, Garcia and Morgan still in the room.

"Now I'm going to take a shower and–" Emily glared at Garcia who was just about to start protesting. "–I don't wan't any of you two trying to sneak after me to make sure I don't get all dizzy and fall in the shower."

"Especially not you Morgan," Emily said and arced a finger at him.

Even though he didn't like the thought of her might falling in the shower because of her head injury, he understood her need to be independent. It was in her nature. She had grown up, only able to rely on herself and her instincts to do so had followed her till today.

"But what if you do get dizzy and fall?!" Garcia bursted out in her own paranoid way, not at all satisfied and ready to accept Emily's conditions.

"Garciaaa..." Emily sighed. "I won't do that because _I do not have a concussion!" _Emily empathised, frustration filling her whole demeanour. "If I'm not on the jet in twenty minutes you have the permission to go look for me in the gym-showers."

With those words Emily left the room and headed for her go-bag sitting by her desk. In the bag she had clothes for at least a week and hopefully she would get through with six outfits for their new case. If she didn't, she would have to get her ass over to the nearest shop selling jeans and t-shirts.

* * *

The hot water from the shower eased her tensed muscles and made her body relax. What it couldn't fix was the empty feeling she had inside.

How come every time her future is starting to look bright, her life comes crashing down and destroys that glimpse of light? She cursed at herself for getting her hopes up, how could she when her life seemed to be one disaster lined up after another?

She didn't cry now though. She was done with crying. Only once had she cried more in one day other than this and it was when she was told she was dead. The day when she realised that she could no longer talk to her friends because they thought she was resting six feet under.

She couldn't call Derek to ask him about how his day was or offer her support when he needed it. She wouldn't walk in to the bullpen and get attacked by Reid's non-stop babble of statistics and random facts.

Neither could she lift up her phone and call Garcia if she had a bad day, hoping that she would make it better. That woman always made her smile no matter how down she was feeling.

She missed Rossi and would do anything for a dinner at his place with the team. She would no longer follow up on Hotch's orders and neither would she get to hear JJ talk about Henry.

She couldn't turn up on Girls' Night Out because then it would probably turn into Girls' Freak Out.

Being treated like shit by her boyfriend could never measure up to the feelings she had that day but still, she had spend the beginning of her day crying.

She wanted to be angry with Dylan for making her feel this way but her emotions did not listen to her request. Since the anger refused to fill her body she wished for the water to take her feelings with it down the drain and leave her numb, neither did that happen. She would give almost anything to not feel now. But the only thing the water flowing down the drain brought with it was blood from her split lip and head gash.

At that point, standing in the shower, Emily was oblivious to her phone placed at one of the benches in the looker room, buzzing from repeated incoming calls.

* * *

She carefully washed her hair with shampoo and swore in a least three different languages at the pain it caused her scalp. With time, the sting subdued and while washing her body with soap the pain was bearable.

The bruises on her back she gained while getting showed into her kitchen bench hurt but not too bad. What annoyed her the most at the moment was her headache not willing to fade away. To the contrary, it increased.

Stepping out of the showers she reached for her towel while the steam from the hot water filled the room. After drying her body, Emily went to the locker room and put on her clothes.

She had retrieved a pair of blue denim jeans and a white t-shirt from her go-bag which she was now wearing. She used her towel to dry her hair as much as she could and then combed through it.

She glanced at her watch and stated that she wouldn't have the time to straighten it, she had to accept that some curls would make themselves present. It was either that or Garcia would come crashing down there while screaming for paramedics, convinced that Emily had fallen and hit her head.

She decided that the first scenario would a bring less attention to it than the second one.

When finished with her hair she moved on to applying make-up. She debated whether or not to put on any foundation since it would hurt like hell while doing so, hence of the bruised and probably cracked jaw. She concluded that she didn't have time for the long and painful procedure since she already had excluded the second scenario.

She quickly put on mascara and coloured the non-sore parts of her lips with a reddish nude colour and couldn't do much about the rest.

Because of her stupid decision not to put ice on her lip, the swelling had become pretty bad. When touching it, it stung like a pair of angry bees.

Besides from aching, it looked really nasty, red, swollen and very irritated. The only positive thing with it at the moment wast that it had finally stopped bleeding and a small scab had started to form. When arriving at the police station she surely was going to attract some of the locals' stares.

As she was in the middle of her train of thought, her phone started vibrating from an incoming call and brought her back to reality.

She picked up the phone from the gym bench on which she had placed it before stepping into the shower and looked at the caller ID.

What she saw made no improvement to her mood, it was Dylan calling.

She ignored his call and then looked at her list of missed calls. During the last hour, since she arrived at the station, Dylan had called her twenty-five times and sent her fifteen text messages.

_Seriously!_ She thought he got the hint when she pulled out her gun, threatening to castrate him but apparently not.

She deleted all of his messages without even looking at them, whatever he had to say to her she wouldn't hear it. After finishing deleting the messages she blocked Dylan's number and put the phone in her jeans pocket.

Deciding that she was presentable she hung up the wet towel to dry and collected her things before heading upstairs where she retrieve her gun and badge before meeting up with the others at the jet.

* * *

She entered the plane with still damp hair and sat her course to one of the window seats at the small table in the middle of the jet. She threw her go-bag on the floor where it wouldn't cause any problems and sat down.

Everyone else was already there even though it was still five minutes left until spoken time.

It didn't take long until Morgan was taking the seat next to hers and nudged Emily with his elbow.

"Baby Girl was about to chase you down ten minutes after you left but I convinced her not to," he informed her.

"Thank you," Emily replied and fought not let the team see how much her headache was bothering her.

During her rush to and from the shower she had forgotten to take a Tylenol and now her head was killing her.

Even though she has a history as an undercover agent, which means she is trained to hide her emotions and her true self, Morgan detected her discomfort.

"Head still bothering you?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I forgot to take something for the pain," Emily answered.

From the other side of the plane Reid was listening in in their conversation. He was worried about Emily but unlike Morgan he wasn't so good at putting words into his feelings.

On the other hand, doing favours and helping out a friend he was better at so when Reid heard about Emily's headache he joined in on their conversation.

"I have some Bayer in my bag if you want."

Touched by his offer, Emily smiled at him. "Thanks but I don't like what those do to me. I have some Tylenol in my bag and if you could just move over, Derek, I can get them."

As she spoke she started to rise from her seat but before Morgen even got the chance to move over, JJ was at Emily's bag.

"I can grab them for you," she said and started to look through Emily's bag.

Emily sank back down in her seat and rested her head against the headrest. "Thanks, I think it should be somewhere on the right side," Emily tried to guide JJ's search.

After a few minutes of searching, JJ cried victory. "Found it!"

She then walked over to where Emily was seated and said 'Here' while she held out the bottle of pills for her.

"Do you need any water?" JJ asked after giving Emily the bottle.

"No, it's fine," Emily declined.

Beside her Morgan frowned. He hadn't seen her drink anything since the wine the night before at the restaurant and he had his suspicions she hadn't gotten the chance to consume any water during her time at home.

"I still think you should drink some water," Morgan argued and shot JJ the could-you-please-bring-her-some-water-look.

JJ caught up on the worried gaze Morgan had while looking at Emily and couldn't do anything but nod.

She too was a bit worried for her friend. Sure JJ had seen Emily during some of her worst days but during those she still had that glimpse of life and determination in her eyes. Looking at her eyes now, all JJ could see was sadness and hurt.

She realised her gaze from Emily and headed for the plane fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.

Emily just shrugged at Morgan's comment and accepted the water JJ brought back for her.

The fact that she did made it clear to Morgan that she wasn't her usual self. A normal Emily Prentiss would argue and not give up without a fight. When she didn't Morgan began worrying that the ordeal with her boyfriend had taken a bigger toll on her than she let the others know.

He made a mental note to himself to check up on her regularly. In that note he also made a comment about not being too persistent, that would just bring out the worst of Emily Prentiss and he always made an effort to avoid that side of her.

Emily threw two pills in her mouth and put the bottle of water to her lips. Along with the water she swallowed the pills and hoped that it wouldn't take long before they started to work their magic.

The pilot told them they were ready for take-off and the profilers who were still standing sat down in an empty seat. Rossi put himself in the seat opposite Emily and JJ sat next to him. Hotch made himself comfortable in one of the single chairs and all of the passengers put their seatbelt on.

* * *

After a few minutes they were allowed to take off the seatbelt and they all did so. Then Hotch spoke up.

"Let's go over the case before we land."

JJ reached for the files stored in her bag and put them on the small table separating her and Rossi from Emily and Morgan.

"So we have a killer who targets low-risk victims," she stated. She was referring to the fact that all of the victims was addicts which put them around criminal activity all the time. One less addict on the street was unfortunately hard to notice. Also the fact that they were all living on the street made it harder for others to notice them go missing.

"I agree. I think we should call Garcia and see if she's found any common link between the victims except that they were all addicted to some kind of substitute and living on the street," Hotch spoke.

As soon as Hotch had said 'call Garcia', Morgan had opened up the computer and started a video call with one of her computers back at her lair in Quantico.

"_You have reached the all knowing Oracle of Quantico. What can I do for you, my lovelies?" _Garcia's chipper voice answered.

Her greeting brought a smile to every profilers' face, including Emily's.

"Hey, Baby Girl. We're wondering if you've been able to connect the victim in any other way than that they were all using," Morgan asked her.

"_At the moment no but if you give me a few seconds I will claw my way through cyberspace and give you a more detailed answer to that question."_

On the other side of the line a clicking sound could be heard and on the screen, the profilers could see Garcia frantically pushing the keys of her keyboard.

"_Victim number two and three went to the same school but at different times…" _her voice trailed off.

"And that would be Tom Scully and Nick Ice. Am I correct?" Rossi cut in.

"_Yes, Italiano, you're totally correct," _Garcia's glee tune informed them. _"As to any other connections I can't seem to find any at the moment but you will be the first to know if I do so!"_

"One more thing, Garcia, before you take off," Hotch said. "Could you compile a list of known locations for the victims? That would help us with the geographical profile."

"_Sure thing, Boss Man. I will need some time to do that but as soon as I'm done, I'll send it to you. If that's all for now then Garcia out!"_

The FBI logo returned to the computer screen as Garcia ended the call.

Seconds later Hotch's phone started to ring.

"I know she is fast but she is not _that _fast," Morgan said and glanced at Hotch with raised eyebrows.

Hotch picked up the phone from his pocket and looked at the caller ID, unknown it read.

Not sure who or what to expect, Hotch answered with his professional "This is Agent Aaron Hotchner."

On the other side of the line a really angry man could be heard. Hotch had to hold the phone a few inches from his ear not to go completely deaf.

It was impossible for the rest of the team not to hear the man.

"_...you think so high of yourself Agent Hotchner but what you really are is a pig!"_

Confused at who this man was and how he got his number, Hotch didn't answer immediately. He was trying to remember who he could have pissed off lately. A vicim's relative? An UnSub they had caught? A teacher at Jack's school?

No matter how hard the tried he couldn't come up with anyone.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I think you got the wrong number."

Rossi looked at Hotch with raised eyebrows and Hotch just shrugged. To be honest he had no clue who the man was or what was going on. The voice in the phone got a little bit lower so that the team could no longer hear him clearly. By now the team could only make out bits and pieces of words here and there.

As it did Hotch put the phone back to his ear.

Morgan looked over at Emily sitting next to him and found her face scrunched up in a frown all while keeping her eyes on Hotch. Not able to get eye contact, he looked away and turned to Reid to see if he knew what was going on but he looked just as confused as everyone else on the jet.

Emily, on the other hand, was frowning because she was sure she had heard that voice before but couldn't put a face to it. Confused she kept track of the conversation as her brain worked full time trying to find the face to the voice.

"Did you know that the average person makes about 1 140 phone calls every year which is an average of 3,12 phone calls a day. The chance of it being a wrong number dial is therefor highly likely," Reid informed everyone while Hotch was caught up in his conversation.

The man on the phone continued his conversation no one except himself could understand.

"_So this isn't the Aaron Hotchner who's in charge of FBI's Behaviour Analysis Unit?!"_

"Yes, it's him but I don't understand what you are talking about," Hotch said with a frown.

"Or maybe not," Reid declared with a frown as he heard Hotch confirm that he was the person the caller was looking for.

"_I'm talking about the fact that you treat the women in your untie like property and fools around with them! Or is it FBI policy to sleep with the women on the team you're in charge of?!"_

Hotch was chocked by the man's accusations and therefore kept silent.

"_If you ever touch Emily again I swear I'll make you pay for it!" _the man on the phone threatened Hotch.

"Emily?" Hotch repeated her name with confusion written all over his face. His eyes went straight to her as he heard the man say her name.

During the conversation Emily had been oblivious to the fact that it was her boyfriend screaming at her Boss until she, seconds later, heard her name. That was when the token fell down. The voice on the phone belonged to Dylan.

The reason she hadn't recognised him at first was because he had never used _that _voice while talking to her. She was finding out her ex had a lot of different voices today and not just the one he had been using towards her while dating.

Warning bells started to go off and she realised she had to stop the call before it got totally out of hand.

She shot up from her seat, not giving any more than a seconds thought to her protesting head, and basted her way between the small table and Morgan's legs.

Out in the alley, she reached for Hotch's phone. "Give me the phone!" she told him and held out her hand for him to put the phone in.

"What?" Hotch asked. Now he was even more confused than before. Never had anyone of his team members told him to give them his phone.

"_I hear she's there with you. I hope I didn't interrupt something," _Dylan snarled sarcastically.

"Give me the phone Hotch!" Emily ordered, panic tainting her voice.

Hotch looked at her outstretched hand and then back at her face. When he saw the rising panic in her eyes. he did as he was told.

With the phone in her hand she walked over to the toilet. She tried to keep her voice as low as possible, hoping the team wouldn't hear her side of the most likely awkward conversation she was about to have on her Boss' phone.

"Dylan?!" Emily asked as she put the phone to her ear. She asked mostly to confirm that it was him and not a random stranger she was about to give a scolding fro calling like this.

"_And now she cares to talk! I have been calling you all day!"_

Emily ignored his comment about her not answering his calls and moved on to the real question. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"_I'm trying to make sure my girlfriend's Boss doesn't sexually harass her anymore!"_

Where the hell had he gotten that from?!

"For God's sakes Dylan! That's never happened!" Emily took a deep breath. "I don't know what's gotten into you or how you got this number but you seriously need to stop calling. I already told you, _we are over!"_

"_Emily there are two persons in a relationship and the decisions being made affecting that relationship should be made by both of those persons. Not just one who thinks she can dress up in stripper's wear and whore around! I'm willing to give this relationship a second chance–"_

Emily's temper was on it's edge. The anger she had longed for earlier in the shower was now at her possession and now she had to control herself in front of the team.

"You're a piece of shit you know that, huh?" Emily cut him off mid sentence. "I'm going to hang up now and I don't want you to call any member of this team ever again. Do you hear me?!" Emily shouted as loudly as she could without drawing too much attention to herself.

Not that she thought she didn't already have it but a girl can always try.

"_And now she's all bossy! I think someone should spend a little less time on her Boss' couch and some more time with her boyfrie..."_

Emily hung up before he had the time to finish his sentence.

* * *

Even though Emily had tried her best to be as discreet as possible, the others had put two and two together and come to the conclusion that it was Emily's ex on the phone.

Hotch felt he really needed to talk to her about what her ex had accused him of but wasn't sure how to bring it up. One thing he knew for sure was that it was time for Emily to tell the team the whole story and let them help her with the problem. He wasn't about to let her solve this problem on her own as he knew she would prefer, not after Doyle.

After the Doyle incident Hotch had felt guilty over not picking up the signs.

He should have realised something wasn't right when Emily was late for work. That woman was always on time and the reason for her being late would have been humongous.

He should have seen she had started to bite on her nails again.

He should have seen the dark circles under her eyes from staying awake all night.

He should have seen the way she reacted to the case where whole families were slaughtered.

He should have seen the signs and offered his and the team's help. Because that he knew for sure, the team wouldn't hesitate to assist Emily trying to solve her problem. On this team, no one was alone in their fight.

* * *

After ending the call Emily made her way back to the rest of the team and was met with five pair of eyes. Those eyes told her that she hadn't made a successful job in keep her conversation private.

"I'm sorry about that," Emily said and handed over the phone to Hotch. "I blocked his number so he won't bother you again and I'll have Garcia block it from everyone else's phone to make sure he doesn't bother any of you."

She made her way back to her seat and slumped down with a sigh. All eyes were still on her and she was starting to feel uncomfortable so she decided to close them to avoid their stares.

Unfortunately, she was forced to open them again as Hotch spoke to her.

"Emily, I think it's time you tell us the real story." Hotch made a small pause before continuing. "Not just pieces of it, the whole uncensured one."

She knew this would come but that didn't make her any more ready for it. Was she ready to tell the team about how she had lied to them for over three mouths when she told them she wasn't in a relationship? Was she ready to face their pity as she told them about how she had thought she loved him and then got her hopes literally smacked out of her? Maybe she could leave that little detail out, that she was in love with him. They didn't have to know, it's just a small detail to the story. Nothing important to understand the concept, she argued.

"Emily," Hotch urged and she realised she had been sitting there staring out the window without giving any sign of life except her constant breathing and blinking.

"Fine," she signed and improved her composure.

"About three weeks after JJ and Will's wedding I was out picking up some lunch for the team. Then two orders was called out at the same time and I went to the counter to pick up mine, or ours that would be."

Everyone sat quiet as they listened to what she told them.

"As I was standing there, a man came to pick up the other order. I didn't pay him much attention to him until he gently touched my shoulder and told me our orders must've been mixed up because he didn't order a chicken sandwich," she said and glanced at Morgan who later became the real owner of that sandwich.

"We traded meals and talked some more. He then gave me his card and told me to give him a call if I ever wanted to grab some coffee."

"What's his name?" Reid chimed in his question. "You keep referring to him as 'he'."

"Dylan," Emily answered without developing any further, such as a last name and age.

"Then what happened, I get that you called him and went for coffee but when did you two get serious?" JJ asked, feeling that she needed to get all the answers to the equation.

"It wasn't until three months ago we started getting serious. Everything was going fine until yesterday, or today or whatever you want to call it," Emily rambled and made a dismissive motion with her hand.

She was referring to the fact that she had had her encounter with Dylan after midnight but it could still count as the day before since she hadn't slept in between.

"You've had a boyfriend for three months and you didn't tell me?" JJ asked, feeling hurt.

JJ thought Emily's trust for her friends had gotten better after Doyle but now it seemed like she still kept most things to herself.

Emily felt bad for not telling her friends about Dylan but now she was glad she hadn't. She could only imagine their rage towards him and was glad they didn't know him. Having it like that it was harder for them to interfere and get themselves into more trouble than they needed.

"I'm sorry, JJ," Emily apologised and JJ could tell she was sincere. "But if you look at it now, it's better that you don't know him."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that. I wish I did know what he looks like so that I could give him the treatment he deserves," Morgan growled, clenching and un-clenching his fists.

He got a warning look from Hotch but didn't care for it. Every time he looked at Emily's banged up face he felt rage consuming his body. He wanted to find the bastard and show him what the consequences of treating his partner like a punching bag was.

Hotch brought the conversation back to it's origin. "So what pushed him over the edge? Because I take it he hasn't hit you before?"

Everyone dreaded for the answer, fearing that this might not have been the first time.

"No, he hasn't," Emily quickly assured the team.

"And I honestly don't know what made him change," she sighed. "He was the perfect boyfriend, brought me flowers, took me out to nice restaurants, treated me with respect and never did he raise his voice towards me. That's until yesterday of course when he broke in to my apartment by convincing my neighbour to open for him, started lecturing me about what to wear, drink and do and then went all crazy on me."

The jet fell silent as the profilers processed the new information.

Emily enjoyed the silence but it didn't last for long as Morgan cleared his throat and started talking.

"Emily, how did you get that gash on the back of your head?"

The question had been bugging ever since he found out about it but he hadn't gotten the chance or the time to ask her. He was sure Dylan was the reason behind it but he needed to know _how _it happened. Did he hit her with an object or did he push her down the stairs? He needed to know haw much pain he would inflict on the man once he found him.

Emily turned her stare out the window as she tried to fight off the feeling of shame. She should have been able to protect herself, she's a freaking FBI agent for God's sakes!

But hurting the people you love is so much harder than kicking a criminal's ass, even if the person you love is hurting you.

It is also a matter of pride, you're not going to show yourself week by not fighting back but you are also not willing to sink to the other person's low level and treat them the same way they are treating you. It is a fine balance between the two and Emily chose the second one.

As she answered Morgan's question she made sure to keep her head high and not show any sign of weakness or embarrassment. "He pushed me into the wall and my head hit the frame hanging on it."

Emily registered how Morgan's hands turned in to fists and how his knuckles became white. She also registered the sign of pity in JJ's eyes and Reid's sad ones.

Glancing at Rossi, she could see he too had some trouble controlling his anger but he did a better job than Morgan at concealing his struggle.

Hotch just looked back at her, not letting her read him and when she met his gaze, she was doing the same thing.

She had put her walls up and Hotch could see that. He decided that it was all for now. The things Dylan had said to him over the phone was made for a conversation between just the two of them, not the whole team.

"Thank you for telling us," he said sincere as he knew how hard this must have been for her.

"Well he didn't really give me any room for anything else than an explanation, calling you like that," Emily said with a hint of sarcasm, looking away out the window.

"You know you can always talk to me if you feel the need to," Hotch said and tried to regain eye contact with her.

Turning her head away from the window to him she answered. "Yeah, I know. Thank you."

She even allowed herself to smile. It was her second genuine smile that day and it felt good. Here, surrounded by her colleagues, she felt safe and for the first time since her ordeal with Dylan, she let herself relax.

"To all of us," Morgan elaborated as he reached out for her hand and gave it a supporting squeeze.

Emily turned to him and smiled, squeezing his hand back. "I know."

* * *

_A/N: So that's it people. I hope you liked it and next time the team will be arriving in Utah. Wonder what kind of troubles are waiting from them there... Check in to find out!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Hi guys! I'm so glad that you're liking my story. The reviews really motivated me to get some writing done. As for this chapter, a new era begins as the team arrives in Utah. Let's see what can go wrong here..._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

The jet touched ground one hour later and the team made themselves ready to continue their journey to the local Police station in their SUVs, which stood waiting for them at the airfield.

In between further discussion of the case, Emily had managed to call both Garcia and her neighbour regarding Dylan. The first call went to her neighbour who very remorsefully apologised for letting Dylan inside Emily's house. Emily didn't elaborate what had occurred while confronting him about it, instead she had politely asked him to contact her before letting anyone else inside her home in the future. He had assured her he would.

Her conversation with Garcia hadn't gone as smooth as the her first call. After repeatedly questioning Emily about the reason for her rather unusual request to block a certain phone number from the team members' phones, Garcia had finally made Emily spill her guts.

At first Garcia had acted like Garcia. She started to freak out and began rambling about wiping out Dylan's credit cards but Emily had, after quite some time, managed to get Garcia to calm down and as she did, she luckily abandon the thought of erasing the money on Dylan's credit cards.

When Emily had hung up, Garcia had still felt an unease about how Emily were handling the whole Dylan-situation but she had early upon Emily's arrival to the team, learned that there was no point in arguing with that woman once she had made up her mind. Garcia had decided to let go of it for the moment, but only for the moment, and had returned to her task of complying a list of known locations for the victims.

* * *

First off the jet was Rossi, followed by Reid and JJ. Morgan was next to leave the airborne transport and closely behind him was Emily who, at the moment, had a less persistent headache. Thankfully, the Tylenol had finally started to work.

Just as Morgan was about to step down the stairway, Hotch called for Emily. He looked back at Emily and she waved for him to keep going. He reached out his hand as a silent offer to carry her bag to the car and she accepted it, another sign that Emily Prentiss wasn't herself today. No matter how banged up that woman had been in her life, she never let anyone to baby her around without a struggle. Thinking of it, a specific moment came to Morgan's mind.

Emily had just been released from the hospital after being rushed off from a car crash. The crash had been caused by their UnSub who had forced another man to run the car transporting the UnSub off the road, the car in which Emily had been.

Unfortunately, their UnSub had escaped and Morgan had found Emily by the side of the road, bloody and suffering from a concussion.

He had rode with her in the ambulance and waited for her in the waiting room while the Doctors had examined her. As he had waited, he had heard her arguing with the staff before he even could see her. When he had heard her arguing, he had walked over to her and put the poor nurse out of his misery by offering to take over the wheelchair.

Of course Emily had complained about it and argued that she could very well walk but Morgan had made her stay in the chair, telling her how he liked pushing her around.

That was a true example of how the independent Emily Prentiss wouldn't allow herself any assistance.

After his walk down memory lane, Morgan walked out of the jet and left Emily and Hotch alone.

* * *

"Yes?" Emily said as she turned back to Hotch.

"I wanted to talk to you about before but I didn't want the whole team to be listening in."

"I'm really sorry about that," Emily apologised and began to feel uncomfortable. What was it he wanted to talk about that he didn't want the team to hear?

Hotch wasn't sure how to approach the subject and decided that it was best not hover around it and move straight on to it. "When Dylan called me, he accused me of mistreating the women on my team. He also accused me of sleeping with them."

Emily felt her mouth fall open as her brain registered what Hotch told her. She couldn't believe her ears! But on the other hand, everything Dylan had done and said during these last two days had come as a chock to her.

She didn't know how to respond but finally managed to close her gaping mouth. How do you respond to something like that? She settled on doing what she had already done so many times today, she apologised.

"I'm so, so sorry! I don't know what's wrong with him and I don't know how but apparently I have or is sleeping with every man that has ever looked at me. I am so, truly sorry!" Emily uttered in a sincere voice.

Hotch's answer wasn't what she had expected to hear. "Emily, I didn't ask to talk to you because I wanted an apology from you, though I do appreciate it. I wanted you to know what he told me and to tell you that quite frankly, I'm a little bit worried for you. If he's so convinced you're cheating on him, I think he might be dangerous. What if you happen to end up alone in the same room as him? I know that you're a more than capable Agent but both you and I already know what he can do when he is angry. I just don't want to see you get hurt again," Hotch said, a concerned look plastered on his face.

Emily was moved by his concern and kind words but she was also determined to let Hotch know that if something like what he described happened, she could handle herself. She didn't need looking after.

"If I ever end up alone in the same room as him again and he makes a move for me, I'll keep my promise and put a bullet to his little ones," Emily said, without any amusement.

She had used that same threat against Doyle when they had 'met up' for coffee late one night after he had tracked her down. She had never told anyone about the meeting, except for Tsia and Clyde, because she was afraid of what the others would think of her.

She knew it had been a dumb move in which Doyle easily could have taken her out right then and there but on some level she knew he wouldn't. He had spent his time as a 'free' man, tracking her down with only one mission in mind; to make her suffer the same way she had made him suffer. By hurting the ones she loved.

After Emily's explanation of what would happen, Hotch looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. He had no doubt Emily could handle herself. Sure, Dylan had managed to throw a few punches at her but if the fight had continued Emily would most likely had been the one still standing.

"Then let's not keep the others waiting," Hotch suggested and picked up his bag.

As soon as Hotch had ended their little talk, Emily made a go for the exit.

By now she was furious at her ex for making a scene and accusing Hotch of such horrible things. She was trying to mask her anger but it showed in the way her jaw stiffened and on her determined steps towards the exit.

Outside, the bright light hit her eyes and made her head hurt. Along with the pain, her anger against Dylan increased. Because of him, she couldn't even step out in the sun without pain radiating through her body.

Emily fumed down the stairway and over one of the black SUVs where Morgan was standing, waiting for her and Hotch to arrive.

"What was that?" Morgan questioned as she was within hearing distance but close enough to him that he didn't have to shout. Inside the car, Rossi had already made himself comfortable and watched as the scene between the two Profilers played out.

JJ and Reid had buckled themselves up in the second vehicle and was engaged in a discussion about the teeth of children while waiting for Hotch to take the driver seat.

Hotch made it to the car approximately at the same time as Emily made it to the one Morgan stood leaning against, waiting.

"That was the latest reason for me to murder my ex," Emily fumed, jerked up the door to the passenger seat and hopped in.

Different reasons for why Emily would want to murder her ex-boyfriend started to fill Morgan's head but he soon gave up, realising she wouldn't tell him even if he asked. Instead he placed himself in front of the steering wheel and put the key in the ignition.

Inside, Morgan could see Rossi eyeing Emily from the backseat. He couldn't blame the man for doing so since he knew the reason behind those glances was a good one. It was for the same reason Morgan casted sideway glances at her while drove the way to the station, they were both worried about her.

* * *

During the ride to the police station, Emily caught Morgan glancing at her more than once. Even though she did notice, she kept her gaze out the window and ignored them.

* * *

Entering the Police Station, the Agents could tell something was up. Officers were rushing from one desk to another, balancing coffee cups and case files in their hands.

Occasionally they bumped into each other and as they did, some coffee escaped from their cups. When that happened, the persons involved quickly apologised and went to retrieve some paper to clean up the mess.

Standing around one of the desks were five men dressed in formal Police outfits. They stood closely next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, hovering over something the team couldn't make out. Though, from the looks of it, it was something important.

In the middle of the chaos, a tall, muscular man made his way towards the rooted Agents.

"You must be the BAU," he stated as he reached them. "I'm Detective Thomas Moore and I'm the lead Detective on this case."

The Detective was a blonde man with sky-blue eyes. From the lack of distinct wrinkles on his face, Emily estimated him to be in his mid thirties to early forties.

The Detective's eyes darted from one Agent to the next one, memorising their faces.

Emily made it a mission to stay in the background as much as possible, hoping that by doing so, she would keep the attention away from her and her injured face. A banged up Agent may not be the best way to create a first impression of the BAU, she reasoned.

"Thank you for having us," JJ said and took a step forward, holding out her hand for the Detective to shake. As they shook hands, JJ introduced herself and started the routine presentation of the team.

"This is our Unite Chief SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is SSAs David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss and Dr. Spencer Reid."

As she introduced them, each Agent offered their hand to the Detective, except Reid who settled with giving him an awkward wave. He had never been a big fan of shaking hands.

As JJ said her name, Emily couldn't stay in the background anymore and had to step forward to follow the guys example and offered her hand to the Detective. As she did, she saw how his eyes widened slightly upon seeing her bruised cheek and split lip.

"I'd hate to see the other guy," Detective Moore told her as he shook her hand.

Emily smiled at his comment and shook his hand. She was starting to like this Detective. Grateful that he hadn't made a big scene out of it, she sent him a silent thank you.

Morgan, who was impressed by the man's cool, started thinking.

The Detective's comment had him wondering if Emily had fought back during her fight with Dylan. Had she given him injuries similar to the ones she had? Or hadn't she fought back?

If she had fought back, Morgan realised he probably should be worried about the dude's condition since Morgan knew what Emily was capable of. Their time together in the gym had showed him that she didn't lack competence in neither combat or wrestling.

Even though he knew he probably should express some kind of concern for the dirtbag if she had fought back, he couldn't. The only feeling surfacing when thinking about Dylan and what he had done, was anger.

Morgan then caught himself thinking about how it would feel to throw a punch at him. To land a fist in his face. Or maybe send his elbow flying to connect with Dylan's nose. The crack when his nose broke would fill Morgan with satisfaction. Only when thinking of it, his fist clenched and his jaw went rigid as if his body was preparing for the fight. No matter how wrong he knew it was, he wanted to make the man pay for what he did to Emily. He guessed it was the protect-your-parter-no-matter-what-instinct that was surfacing.

Morgan, lost in his thoughts, was brought back to reality when the Detective cleared his throat. If the time was right and if he got the chance, Morgan would ask Emily about it but for now, he realised his focus was needed on the case.

"As you can see, there's a small chaos in here right now and the reason for that is our perp. Another map was delivered to us with a photo of the missing woman he has kidnapped which he, most likely, intends to make his next victim," Moore informed them.

"How long time ago was the latest map and photo received?" Hotch asked as he tried to create a picture of their time frame. In matter of kidnappings, time was alway a delicate factor.

"The desk clerk told us the envelope got here approximately two hours ago," the Detective answered.

"That gives us ten more hours to work with," Hotch stated while nodding his head. "Do you have a place where we can set up?"

"Sure, we have a conference room at the end of that corridor," Detective Moore said and pointed at a short corridor, walls painted in a light yellow colour. A single painting was hanging on the wall, picturing a fisherman trying to win the tug of war between himself and the fish. It was a really a nice picture, Emily observed as she looked in the direction the Detective was pointing.

"A whiteboard and a coffeemaker is already placed in the room among with some information regarding the case such as notes from interviews and evidence collected at the different crime scenes," the Detective told them.

"I'll send in some of my men who's been studying the map to help bring you up to speed on the area. If you need anything, I'll be right out here trying to get an ID on the latest victim," he finished.

"If you don't mind, we could handle the identification of the woman. Our Technical Analyst back at headquarters have access to better equipment than you do here. No offence," Hotch said. He knew if he put Garcia on the task, they would have an ID much faster thanks to her resources and skills.

Luckily, the Detective wasn't to proud to accept the help. "None taken," he answered. "My first priority is to find this woman before she ends up like the other ones. And if your way is faster then mine, then so be it. I'm grateful for all the help we can get."

"Hopefully your skills and my mens' knowledge about the area around here will be the solution to finding this sicko before he kills her," he then added.

"I agree," Hotch consented.

As Hotch communicated with the Detective, Emily struggled to stay awake. The lack of sleep was starting to take its' toll on her and she could feel her eyelids getting heavier for each minute that passed by. She rubbed her tired eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tiredness but had no luck. She then turned her hopes to coffee, praying that the combination of caffeine and something to let her brain work with was going to keep her awake for the next hours.

The team started moving towards the conference room and Emily quickly followed. Walking made her head pound with every step, despite her taking the pills not too long ago. Apparently they hadn't lasted for long and she concluded that it was time for her to take a new dosage if she was going to get any job done. Thankfully the team hadn't checked in to the hotel yet which meant that she still had her bag with her, containing the pills.

* * *

The conference room was a relatively small room with a table placed in the middle. The walls were painted in the same colour as the corridor leading to the room. On two of the walls, the colour was exchanged for a window and gave the Agents a view of the street outside.

Their focus was shifted from the windows to the table. The detective had been truthful to his words, on the table stood boxes containing material from the case and at the rear end of the table was a whiteboard stationed. To Reid's delight, markers in different colours were laying at the base of the board.

While Reid's attention was on the markers, Emily's was the coffeepot standing on the small table next to one of the windows. Standing there and looking at it, she didn't know how she had managed to survive without coffee for almost eighteen months.

The stress she had felt from constantly looking over her shoulder, afraid Doyle might find her, combined with her fear of him might finding Declan, had caused her to develop an ulcer. To avoid agitating it, her Doctor had suggested she quit coffee, much to her disapproval but she had done it anyway.

The first week had been the worst but after a while she had gotten used to the decaf she gulped down every day. Now, she wanted nothing more than to let the caffeine do wonders to her weary body.

"Anyone want some coffee?" she asked as she put down her bag next to the chair closest to her and shrugged of her jacket.

"Yes please!" JJ exclaimed while rubbing her eyes. Getting back home from celebrating Hotch's birthday, JJ and Will had enjoyed each other before falling asleep. Due to their time spent together, she hadn't gotten much sleep before she received the phone call about the case.

"I thought you quit that stuff," Morgan said to Emily with a frown. She had personally told him she had quit caffeine at the same day as had he lied to her about how she had to do ten hours of takedown and arrest procedure to re-certify because of her absence.

She had later confronted him about it, after talking to Hotch, and that was when he had confessed to her that he had only told her because he felt like he needed some reassurance. He needed to know that he could handle being out in the field with her without worrying too much about her.

"I did but if I'm gonna be able to keep my eyes open for longer than a minute, I need caffeine," Emily told him and turned to the coffeemaker. "Anyone else want some?"

"Uhm, I do," Reid told her from across the table, standing in front of the whiteboard.

"Why does that not surprise me," Emily smiled as she turned to start brewing the coffee.

"When was the last time you slept?" Hotch asked as he had listened to her comment about keeping her eyes open and then recalled how she had walked in to the briefing room, dressed in the same clothes as she wore during his birthday dinner.

Emily, not sure what time of the day it was, brought her left wrist to her sight. The watch that usually was fasten on her wrist was missing and Emily realised it was still laying at home.

When dressing up for occasions, she rarely wore her watch but left it on the counter by the door. The reason for doing so was because most of the time, it didn't go well with her outfit. Since she had rushed off to the BAU still dressed in her attire for the festive evening, the watch had never left its' place on the counter this morning.

She took a quick look at her right wrist just to make sure she hadn't put it on the wrong one while being in such a hurry as she had been. When looking at it, the only thing circulating her wrist was a dark bruise. Unfortunately, she was only wearing a t-shit which meant she had no sleeves to pull down to cover it. She sighed and went back to the chair to put her jacket back on, she didn't need the local Police nor her team to see any more of her injuries than they absolutely had to.

Emily saw the puzzlement on the Profilers' faces as she put her jacket back on, only minutes after taking it off.

"It's cold," she lied.

Nobody believed her since the room had a very comfortable temperature.

Emily ignoring their looks and hoped that Hotch had forgot about his question. Unfortunately, he hadn't.

"Prentiss, the last time you slept?"

"Mm, right," Emily began. "What time is it?"

Hotch glanced at his own watch before answering. "It's eleven am."

"Then it was a while ago," Emily stated, not caring about counting the hours. She then continued working on the task of getting the coffee ready.

Everyone in the room had heard the conversation between the two and they were once again reminded of Emily's dispute with Dylan. The mood in the room shifted to one filled of unease.

Rossi detected Emily's signs of discomfort as she once again became the centre of attention and decided to take it up on himself to lighten the spirit in the room. He also hoped that by doing so, he would reveal Emily from some of her discomfort.

"Why don't you just brew a large pot and those who want some can have it," he suggested. "I don't think the station is going to get mad at us for brewing too much of their crappy coffee."

A smile spread on his face as he watched his comment about the distasteful cop-coffee have the desired effect. The air in the room felt a little bit lighter and he saw Emily's tense shoulders relax a little.

Satisfied with his accomplishment, Rossi began working on emptying the boxes, placed on the table, of their contents.

In seconds, Hotch was at his side, helping him and slipping one box to JJ. She too started to pick up its' content as Morgan flipped open a case file and started reading.

Once in a while, Morgan let his glare drift over to where Emily was standing, handling the coffeemaker. He then let it linger for a few seconds before he returned it to the file in his hands and kept reading.

After his fifth time of doing so, he caught Rossi doing the exact same thing. When their eyes met, they shared a mutual expression; worry.

Minutes later, Hotch, JJ and Rossi had unpacked all of the boxes and their content was now laying sprawled all over the table.

Looking at the mess they had created, Hotch decided it was time to begin organising their respective tasks.

"Reid, I want you to stay here and work on a geographical profile," he gave his first order. "Rossi and JJ, I want you two to hit the road and start interviewing people on known locations for the homeless, maybe somebody saw or heard something. Morgan, I suggest you and I take a trip to the morgue while you, Prentiss, stay here and work on victimology."

He received an irritated look from Emily, who was eagerly gulping down her coffee as she made her way to the table.

Emily didn't want to stay put at the station. She wanted to be out in the field, running down possible leads and interviewing the homeless. She knew creating a profile while being at the station was a task just as important as being out on the streets but right now, sitting in a chair, reading files while trying to come up with a profile made her feel trapped. She wanted to be outside, to feel the air and her face and drive the car to different locations.

Even though she felt a desperate need to be somewhere else but here, she decided it might be for the best if stayed at the station. She did have a headache, which by the way was pushing her to the verge of nausea, and the station was where the coffee were.

Hotch suspected Emily guessed he had intentionally kept her out of the field because of her injuries. Either that, or she was uncertain of if it had just been a coincident. Nevertheless, Hotch was relived when she choose not to argue his decision.

What the others, nor Emily, didn't need to know, was that he had in fact given her the task intentionally. He couldn't send her to interview the homeless because they might not trust her because of her appearance. She might scare them off.

Even though he knew she was tough and a master at compartmentalising, he didn't have the heart to send her to look at the dead bodies. Looking at them, even though some of them were practically nothing more than a bunch of burned bones, it would be like staring at her reflection the a mirror. They were victims of a crime and so was she, even though she refused to admit it to herself. He didn't feel comfortable with sending her there, not right now at least.

So that left him with her remaining at the station, working on victimology.

Hotch knew he would have to put her in the field some time during this investigation because frankly, she was one hell of a shooter and Agent. He couldn't deny her skills and he had the feeling this UnSub wasn't about to go down without a fight. Hotch suspected that during the takedown of their UnSub, he needed all members of his elite team to participate.

The others started moving and spur into action after he had given them the orders. He wasn't late to follow and collected his belongings before he rose from his chair.

Walking out the front door of the station, accompanied by JJ, Morgan and Rossi, Hotch left two of his finest Agents to do what they do best, to get inside the mind of their UnSub.

* * *

_A/N: That's all for this time. I would love to hear what you think of the story so far. Right now, I'm trying to build the foundation for the case and I hope I'm not boring you. I promise, more action is coming later on. I hope to see you next time!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Okay, so here we go. Another chapter done and I don't really have anything else to say except happy reading!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

As the others left the station, three Officers entered the conference room ready to get to work. Emily had her back to them but she was still the first of the two remaining Agents in the room to notice their arrival. Blame it on her CIA training or her dead beat boyfriend but her senses were on high alert. Reid was too engaged in putting stickers in different colours on the map, marking the different crime scenes and taking sips of his coffee to notice.

Emily, who by now was on to her second cup of coffee, turned around and faced the Officers. Due to her headache and lack of sleep, she was in a bad mood. A few minutes ago, she had swallowed two pills along with some water and was now patiently waiting for them to take effect. She hoped that the men standing by the doorframe would be of the cooperating kind, but her hopes were crushed seconds later when one of the Officers spoke.

"Man!" the man exclaimed upon seeing the injuries done to her face.

His outburst irritated her and did nothing to enlighten her mood. She couldn't stop herself from snapping at him, even though she had been expecting that kind of reactions during her stay.

"Something bothering you?" Emily snarled at his comment and turned to face him. She was a freaking FBI Agent for God's sake! As one, you are suppose to get a few bruises and cuts during your career. Seriously, she couldn't be the first one with bruises working in law enforcement the Officer had seen.

Opposite her, three men stood. Two younger and one older. Emily did the math regarding the oldest age by adding his wrinkles to the effect the sun had had on his face during the long hours outdoors had done to him and guessed he was somewhere in his early to late forties. The other two looked to be in their late twenties, maybe mid thirties. By the look of the one who had spoken, he wasn't used to others snapping at him. The youngster showed an expression of pure chock.

"Real smooth," the Officer standing next to the youngster, whispered.

"And how about you? Something you want to share with the rest of us in this room?" Emily asked, glaring at the other young Officer.

By now, Reid had detected the Officers arrival to the room and realised that the first introduction hadn't gone well, so to speak. Emily actually looked like she was ready to smack the two younger Officers' heads together. Afraid she might do so, Reid took a few steps nearing the small crowd created at the other side of the table. Fortunately, he didn't have to pry his friend and colleague away from the two youngsters as the third Officer spoke up.

"I'm really sorry," he started to apologise. "These two never know when to shut up."

Emily sent the first one of the young Officers a last warning glare before turing to the polite older man. Refusing to let her headache and crappy mood ruin the day for the others, she decided to turn the atmosphere in the room to a better one. Her irritation for the two Officers hadn't vanished but she choose not to dwell on it.

"It's okay," Emily assured the older Officer. "He's not the first time a man who has trouble keeping their eyes off me," she then added with a smile and a wink.

Her joke had the wishful effect and the tension in the room quickly eased as they all laughed.

"Maybe a proper introduction would fit now?" the older Officer said with a smirk on his face. Emily's joke had been one matching his humour.

"I totally agree," Emily said and smiled. "I'm Agent Emily Prentiss and this is my colleague Dr. Spencer Reid."

As she introduced Reid, she let her hand travel in his direction.

"Nice to meet you both," the Officer said and shook Emily's hand and then gave Reid a quick wave.

Reid did the same, thankful to avoid shaking hands, and flashed one of his boyish smiles.

"These two Nut Balls here are Officers Richard Hale and Stewart Anderson," the man said while pointing at respective man. Emily learned that the Officer who had had such a pleasant reaction to her face was Officer Stewart Anderson. "As for myself, my name is Harold Bunch."

After the introductions were made, Officer Bunch asked the real question. "So where do you want us?"

"I take it at least one of you is familiar with the area?" Emily questioned even though Detective Moore had told them that he would be lending them some of his most suitable men regarding the area and this case.

"Yeah, I grew up and have lived here my whole life so it would be a shame if I didn't," Officer Bunch answered.

"Good, then I want you to help out Dr. Reid over there. He trying to come up with a geographical profile and it's always easier if you're familiar with the area."

Reid nodded his agreement as Bunch looked at him.

"And what exactly is a geographical profile? How's creating one going to help us catch this crook?" the man in question wanted to know.

Reid decided that this was his territory. He started explaining to the Officers how this kind of profiling could help them locate the UnSub's comfort zone and how that would help them catch him. He also told them about how to come up with these comfort zones while showing them the areas of different colours he had painted on the map. After being briefed about the subject, Officer Bunch made his way over to the map and eagerly started working along with Reid.

The other two Offerers remained by Emily's side as she asked them to help her to get an insight of the places where the victims were last seen, but also on the crime scenes. The Officers gladly gave her the information she requested and whenever she felt like she had to brainstorm with someone, they happily offered themselves to act as her sounding board.

In the middle of discussing how their UnSub had managed to kidnap his victims without anyone seeing him, Emily's phone started ringing. She picked it up and saw it was Hotch calling.

"Hey Hotch, you're on speaker," Emily answered as she pressed the speaker button. "Officers Bunch, Hale and Anderson are here with me and Reid."

"_I just wanted to tell you that Garcia has finally completed the list I asked her to and I'm currently sending it to you. Also, Morgan and I are done at the morgue and about to drive off to the crime scenes. You've come up with something we should be aware of before taking off?"_

Pondering his question, Emily remained quiet for a few seconds.

"Well, I think Reid and Officer Bunch is pretty much done with the geographical profile for the moment and it looks like our UnSub is all over the place. We can't seem to find a comfort zone, at least not with the reference points we have right now. Also with the help of Officers Anderson and Hale I have concluded that the UnSub either is a regular at the street where the victims were snatched from, or he has an appearance that allows him to blend in since no one noticed him taking the victims."

"_Thanks Prentiss. We'll keep that in mind as we head off. You can expect us to be back in less than four hours. Maybe the list will help you come up with a working geographical profile," _Hotch finished off the call.

As Hotch had informed her of, the list Garcia had put together about the victims known locations showed up on the screen of her phone. She wrote down the places and gave the list to Reid before she settled back in her chair and continued working on their profile.

* * *

The hours quickly vanished and so did the coffee. By now, Emily had lost count of her cups of coffee but her mind still craved for. The coffee hadn't been as effective as she had hope in the matter of making the tiredness disappear. Her body, on the other hand, had a different opinion to her extreme consumption of caffeine. Her stomach stung from the strong, foreign liquid it wasn't used to anymore. In the back of her mind she knew drinking coffee, especially cop-coffee, wasn't a good combination with her still healing ulcer. She then recalled she had skipped both breakfast and lunch. Drinking the beverage on an empty stomach made the whole ordeal even worse. She cursed herself for not thinking about that earlier, if she had she would have made sure to have eating something before she started gulping down the coffee. To make a point, her stomach started to growl.

At the other end of the table, Reid picked up on Emily's stomach's cry for food and felt the same emptiness in his own. Fortunately, had picked up a sandwich on the way to the BAU as breakfast but that didn't stop him from noticing the lack of lunch.

"Should we order something to eat?" Reid suggested upon hearing Emily's stomach and felling the emptiness in his own. He glanced at his watch and then added. "The others should be back in about half an hour which gives us enough time to get something before they arrive. We could order for them too."

"Yeah, sound good to me," Emily said and turned to the twins as she had started to refer Officers Anderson and Hale as. "Are there any good places around here where you could get a decent meal without having to spend a fortune?"

"There's a place a few blocks down that's pretty good. Serves hamburgers, sausages, fish and chips among other things," Officer Hale answered.

Emily looked at Reid with questioning eyes.

"Works for me," he told her.

"Same here," Emily said and rose from her seat. Her back ached from sitting slouched over the table for so long and her legs gladly welcomed the change of position.

"I need a break so I don't mind getting the food. How about you?" she asked Reid. "Do you want to join me or do you want to stay here and keep working on the profile?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to finish reading these reports about the crime scenes," Reid said and pointed at the files that lay scattered at the table around him. "I find it really unusual for this UnSub to lack a comfort-zone," he added with a frown.

"No problem," she assured him.

"I think my guys and myself also is in need of some food," Officer Bunch told Emily.

"Well, then why don't we carpool. It's easier since I don't know they way," Emily said as she put on her jacket.

Officer Bunch nodded his agreement.

"I would like a hamburger with fries," Officer Hale called out his request.

"The same for me," said Officer Anderson seconds later.

Emily's theory about the Officers being twins in some alternative universe was starting to look more and more credible.

"How about you Genius?" Emily asked.

"I think I'll take the fish and chips," he said. "Oh and could you get me a milkshake if they have any?"

The way his eyes glistered with excitement reminded Emily of a child on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa to arrive with the presents. This brought a smile to her otherwise rather worn face. "Sure. Which flavour?"

His eyebrows knotted as he pondered the question, desperately trying make up his mind and come to a decision. His choices were banana, vanilla or chocolate. At last, he settled on chocolate.

After memorising the orders, Emily and Officer Bunch left the police station together their next stop being the diner. When she had made herself comfortable in the car, Emily called the others and scribbled down their orders on a blank page of her notepad.

* * *

The worker at the diner had politely ignored Emily's banged-up face and quickly made their orders. When Emily and Officer Bunch arrived back at the Police station, the rest of the team was seated around the table alongside the Officers. Reid was still engrossed in his reports of the crime scenes and Rossi and Hotch could be seen involved in a discussion. Morgan and JJ were currently engaged in the map the killer had sent the station along with the twins.

"I bring nutrition," Emily said as she walked into the conference room, holding up the plastic bag containing their food.

"Your a life saver!" JJ exclaimed and rose from her chair to help Emily with the food.

Together, they handed a take-away box to each Profiler and then sat down with their own. The one most exited about the food was Reid, hence to the milkshake Emily had brought. Emily herself was mainly thankful for finally having something to put in her aching stomach.

After a few minutes of silence and rapid trips with forks from box to mouth, Hotch spoke up. "This may disturb the meal but in order to be able to save this woman, I think it is important to discuss what information we have endured during these hours spent apart."

Morgan leant back in his chair and put the box of food to rest on the table. "The coroner told us that from the tissue left on the bodies, he had come to the conclusion that the victims were still alive when the bombs went off," he only paused to take a sip of his water. "The most intact body, the one of Nick Ice, showed no sign of bruising or injuries that would indicate a struggle. Also traces of chloroform could be found in his system, such as in the other bodies were you could still attract some tissue to test. Those facts together left Hotch and me thinking that the UnSub attacks his victims when they're least expecting it and that he uses chloroform to subdue them. And by that, we must assume that our killer is physically fit enough to carry a unconscious body of at least 200 pound, the weight of our second victim Tom Scully."

The others nodded their agreement as they ate of their food. By now, they were all used to discussing murders while eating and the fact that it wasn't bothering any of them bothered all of them.

JJ was the next to report what Rossi and she had learnt from talking to the victims' families.

"The fact that they all were addicted to some type of drug was common knowledge among the families," she began. "When questioning them about it, three out of four told us that they had tried to get their loved ones into rehab but they all refused. Our youngest victim, Nick Ice, had been sent off, even though he refused, to a summer camp focusing on rehabilitating young people. While staying at the camp, Nick managed to escape and started living on the street instead of going back to his family. We had Garcia check the summer camp for any weird vibes but she came up empty. She also searched for any record of our other victims staying at the camp but found nothing. When we asked the families if they recognised the other victims, none of them told us that they did. It doesn't seem to be any real connection between the victims that can be linked through the families. The only resemblance seems to be that they were all users and that they was snatched while living on the street."

After speaking for such a long time, JJ allowed herself to gulp down some of her drink.

"How about the fact that victim number two and four went to the same school?" Emily questioned, after she had searched her memory for the single connection she knew they had.

"The school didn't seem to serve as a big factor in either Tom's nor Nick's lives which makes us believe that it's nothing more than a coincidence. Neither of the men spent much time in school and by that, we shouldn't assume it's a reliable lead. But we can't look past it either," Rossi answered Emily's question.

Emily, satisfied with Rossi's answer, moved on to telling the team what she and Reid had come up with. "As I told Hotch on the phone, our UnSub doesn't appear to have a comfort-zone which is very unusual. Also, from the fact that the UnSub is choosing bombs as weapons, combined with some other elements, we've come to the conclusion that the UnSub must be a male."

"I'll have to agree with you on that Prentiss," Hotch said. "Women usually doesn't choose such a messy way of killing, their weapon of choice is often some sort of poison. Also when visiting the crime scene of Tom Scully, Morgan and I had to walk at least two miles to get to the portable toilet where he was held captive and then later killed. By that, we have to assume the UnSub had to do the same, add a 200 pound body to that and we have someone really strong. With the terrain and the extra weight, I highly doubt a woman would pull that off. Not even an extremely fit woman."

The other had no objections. It is common knowledge that men have the ability to build more muscles than women and therefore Hotch's statement couldn't be seen as sexist which 'boys are stronger than girls' often were.

After some further discussion, Hotch decided it was time to move on if they should be able to get to the kidnapped woman in time. During their reports of what they had come up with, Garcia had called and given them a name to their missing woman. Charlotte Banks had now been missing for eight hours which left them with four more before they would find her most likely torn apart by the bomb.

A few last remarks and comments were made before Hotch decided it was time.

"I think we're ready to give the profile," Hotch finished off their discussion and stood up.

* * *

The team had moved out to the jungle of desks and people. As they lined up in front of a whiteboard, they stood looking out at an ocean of policemen and women, quietly waiting for them to enlighten them with their so called profile for this killer.

At this moment of the day, Emily was used to all the staring but she still got irritated when she caught two Officers whispering to each other while glancing her way. She was forced to drag her eyes away from them when Hotch started to give the profile. Since she was about to take over the briefing from an other team member and start where they left off, she couldn't let herself get distracted by the immature Officers.

"We believe the UnSub is a white male in his late forties to early fifties," Hotch started to inform the audience. Many whom could be seen writing down the words escaping his mouth. "He needs to be physically fit to be able to carry his victims for a long distance. This we know because Tom Scully, victim number two, was found inside a portable toilet located in the woods where no roads created for vehicles exists. He ambushes his victims and eliminates the risk of them putting up a struggle by drugging them with chloroform."

Rossi was the next one to speak. "For this UnSub, the thrill isn't in the actual killing but in the chase. By providing us with maps and pictures of his victims, he is challenging us to prove us better than him by saving the victims before the bomb goes off. Every time we fail, he sees it as a win. In other words he is playing a game, trying to prove that he is above all of us. A game where lives are at stake."

His finish line reminded everyone of the seriousness of the situation. During the time he had spoken, Rossi had made sure to gain eye contact with the sea of Police workers. By doing so, he hoped to make sure they understood the importance of his words.

"He has a dull appearance that keeps people from noticing him. Because of his looks, he can come and go without anyone paying too much attention to him or even remembering him," JJ said, picking up where Rossi left.

It was now Emily's turn to speak. "We do know he's got a big ego. By playing us, he thinks he is above the law. He probably grew up in a family where bad behaviour didn't resulted in any type of punishment. Also, we think this UnSub either have worked in law-enforcement or at least attend law-school. His hate towards law-enforcement is most likely based on how he failed law-school or felt unappreciated for the work he did as an Officer of the law. What we know for sure is that he's no longer neither of those. If he ever worked as an Officer of the law, he either got fired or quit because of something that happened at work."

Like he had so many times before, Morgan knew exactly where to start. "By sending us the maps and pictures of the victims, he's challenging us to let him prove that he's better. He even thinks he is so much better he's giving us a head start by providing us with those clues. He's doing so to even out the game. If he's caught in a stand-off, he won't hesitate to take his own life while at the same time making sure to take as many lives with him as possible. If a stand-off do occur, we will make sure to let him think he's the one pulling the strings. When he thinks he's in total control is our best chance to get him. Don't be surprised if the only way to do so is to take him out."

Each Profiler had taken a step forward while speaking and now it was Reid's turn. As he stepped forward, Morgan stepped back leaving the audience to him.

"Hence the variety in geographical locations, we assume he has a vehicle to transport his victims in. This vehicle needs to be big enough to fit a unconscious person but small enough to avoid attracting any type of unwanted attention. A GMC or a newer Buick model are possible suggestions. Also. this vehicle needs to be able to drive in different terrains without enduring too much damage. A damaged vehicle draws attention to it."

"That is all for now," Hotch informed the men and women who had patiently listened to them. "Our main focus right now is to find our missing woman Charlotte Banks. If you by any chance cross paths with the UnSub during her attempted rescue, do not pursue a chase alone. This UnSub is highly dangerous and by going after him on your own, you won't only risk your own life but also the life of others. Thank you for listening."

As soon as Hotch finished talking, a choir of mumbling voices filled the room. The audience stood from respective seats and returned to their individual tasks.

The Detective who had welcomed them when they first arrived walked up to the Profilers still standing in front of the desks.

"Wow, that was really impressive," he acknowledged upon reaching them.

"We're just doing our jobs," Morgan voiced.

"Well, a hell of an impressive job you got then," Detective Moore said. "How about the location of where he is holding...Charlotte is her name right?"

Rossi nodded his yes.

"Have you come up with a location where he might be holding her?"

"Not yet but we're about to sit down with the map he sent us and contact out Technical Analyst. Hopefully, that will help us narrow it down," Hotch informed the Detective.

"Then don't let me stall you," Moore said and waltzed off to check up on the work of his men.

"Let's get back to the conference room," Hotch ordered the Profilers and started walking while at the same time dialling Garcia.

The others quickly followed his lead and left the small chaos created in the jungle of desks. When the Profilers got to the conference room, they all grabbed the closest file and started skimming through them, hoping to catch a lead while waiting for Garcia to call them back with what she had come up with.

* * *

_A/N: So what do you think? I hope you're liking the progress of the story and I promise the pace will pick up during the next chapter. Don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts in the nice little review box below :)_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hi! I'm back with the next chapter. As I promised, the pace will pick up a little in this one and it's also time for the wonderful Oracle of Quantico to make a comeback, it's been a while since we last really talked to her. I would like to wish you a happy reading and I hope you like what I have written!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

They had just made it in time to watch the abandoned garage explode. The force of the explosion had flung pieces of wood and metal their way and they had been forced to take cover behind their vehicles. After the blast had subsided, they rose and looked at what was left of the burning garage.

They silently cursed themselves for not figuring out the location sooner, but neither of the Agents uttered a word about how they just had lost yet another victim to their UnSub. Everyone knew there was no way the missing woman had survived the explosion but they had still made their way over to the garage to study what was left of it.

They had remained at the crime scene for a total of three hours. During those three hours, people had arrived to and left the scene. The ambulance had been sent back since no one was in need of emergency care. One of the twins, Officer Hale, had managed to get hit by a piece of wood during the explosion, but he was soon back on his feet after getting checked up by one of the paramedics at the scene.

As Officer Hale had been treated, the fire fighters had arrived and worked effectively on putting out the fire. When the former garage had been cleared, the Agents had been allowed to enter along with the local Coroner who had arrived to the crime scene. The Coroner's initial statement had been that the explosion was the cause of death and that the dead woman showed signs of having been restrained before coming face to face with death.

The Coroner had kept on observing the body and made some notes then later cleared it for transport back to the Morgue. The Agents had watched as the body was wheeled away on a gurney. They had all paid their respect to the deceased by standing quiet as the gurney had been rolled past where they were standing. When the body was safely inside the Morgue's van, they had returned to observing and analysing the scene before finishing up themselves.

The drive back to the hotel had lasted for an eternity, at least that was how Emily had experienced it. In reality it only took about twenty minutes for the team to drive back to their stay on the lightly trafficked roads.

* * *

Emily fought her heavy eyelids as she walked through the hotel door and closed it behind her. Tiredness had consumed her weary body and she was moving on auto-pilot. She removed her holster, containing her gun, along with her badge and put them on the night stand. As she did, she tried to remember the last time she slept. Was it two days ago? No, that didn't sound right. Three? Maybe, she wasn't sure but it felt more like three days than two. The harder she thought about it, the fuzzier her memory became as her brain cells tried to work out her timeline. With a sigh she gave up trying and went to the bathroom to use the toilet and brush her teeth.

Standing in front of the mirror, she put her toothbrush in her mouth and looked at her reflection. What she saw made her shiver. Her eyes were red rimmed. Underneath them she had two prominent black circles that she doubted she could make go away even if she had had unlimited access to concealer. She let out a frustrated sigh before moving on to study the rest of her appearance.

Her hair was pulled back in a messy pony tail, or more like what used to be a pony tail. She had put it up in such a hurry that she had missed to pull the band hard enough for her hair to stay in place. Studying it now in the mirror, she saw that strains of hair had gotten lose sometime during the time since she left the station and was now hanging down her neck. They were accompanies with some more loose strains that were framing her face. Her examination of her appearance was interrupted by a unexpected wave of pain originated from the left side of her mouth.

She had, without a second thought to her swollen cheek and injured lip, brushed her teeth with the same force as she usually did and now, she was facing the consequences of it.

As a reflex her hand went up to her cheek as if protecting it from the pain and she could feel the warmth radiating from the injury. Inside her mouth, the all to familiar taste of blood was spreading and when she spit out the foam, it was pink instead of light blue as it usually was.

She scholed herself for not being more careful as she analysed the damage she had done to her wound. The cut on her lip had now re-opened and blood was flowing freely from it. She cursed at herself for making that happen and hoped that it wouldn't take as long to stop the bleeding as it had the first time. She quickly finished brushing her teeth with a more gentle pressure, then tore off a pice of paper, put it to her lip and applied a light pressure.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she made her way to the bed and threw off its cover. Usually, the beds at the hotels in which they stayed in varied in comfort but right now she didn't care if it was comfy or not. In fact, she would probably be happy with sleeping on the concrete floor of a basement right now, as long as she got to sleep.

After finishing the task of making the bed undone, she sat at the edge of it and went on to removing her shoes. As she bent forward, she could feel the blood rushing to her head and the pounding she had had for the last couple of days increased once again. She only managed to get off one shoe before she had to sit back up to lessen the pressure the blood caused her head.

She sat like that, staring at the wall, which was lacking any type of decoration, and let her mind go blank. She knew that if she started to think about these last couple of days' events, the walls she had built up would come crumbling down, so she simply sat there trying not to think about anything at all.

She slowly let the gravity do its work on her eyelids and she felt them closing only to later be opened again. She let herself get to the verge of consciousness before returning to the world of the living with a jerk.

She let this procedure go on for a while until she thought the better of it and decided to give up on preforming the same task on her other shoe as she did the first one. She simply settled with kicking it off, damage be damned. Once out of her shoes, she didn't care to remove her clothes and change into pyjamas before crawling under the covers. Before she could let herself go out like a lightning bulb, she made sure to set an alarm to assure herself that she wouldn't be late the next morning. Only then did she let herself drift off to oblivion.

* * *

Morgan had just exited the shower as he heard the familiar sound of his ringtone. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he made it back into the bedroom and fetched his cell from where he had left it on the night stand the night before. Wondering who would call him at such an early hour, he checked the caller ID before answering. It read unknown. With a slight frown on his face, he pressed answer and put the phone to his ear.

"Morgan," he answered formally.

What met him on the other side of the line wasn't something that could be placed in the same category as Morgan's greeting.

"_So black girls not good enough for you now, Agent?" _Was what met him on the other said of the phone.

Morgan's frown deepened as he listened to the caller.

"Who is this?" he demanded to know.

The caller totally ignored his demand and kept on talking.

"_Felt the need to upgrade to some white chicks now, did you?" _The voice on the other side of the line was filled with venom.

By now, the caller was starting to get on Morgan's nerves and he let some of his emotions show in his voice as he spoke his next sentence.

"Look, Man, I don't know who you are or what you want and but obviously have a problem so I'm gonna let this slip for now. And I seriously suggest that you get some help and that you double check the number before you press the call button next time."

"_Oh no, no, no I don't have the wrong number. You see, you are the person I wanted to talk to." _The caller only paused for a second before continuing. _"And you are right, I do have a problem. I have a problem with you screwing around with women who doesn't belong to you."_

Morgan was just about to scholar the man for his accusations when he was cut off by the caller.

"_Now, I hope you listen real carefully because I'm only going to tell you this once. STAY AWAY FROM EMILY!" _

After that, the call was disconnected and Morgan was only met with silence. He held his cell in front of him and ended up staring at it for quite some time before putting it back on the night stand.

He was pretty sure the man who had just called him was Emily's ex, Dylan. He would never forget the name of the man who had used his partner as a punching bag and gotten away with it unscratched, as far as he knew. But Garcia had supposedly blocked his number on the phones belonging to each and every member of the team. Did she forget to block it on his phone? Or had she made a mistake while blocking it, leading to an unsuccessful blocking? _No, Garcia doesn't forget or make any mistakes when is comes to technology,_ Morgan thought. Having excluded those options, the only other one Morgan could come up with was that Dylan had bought a new phone and/or changed his number.

Dylan. That son of a bitch had the nerve to accuse him of sleeping with Emily. Well, it wasn't the accusation itself that bothered Morgan the most. It was the fact that Dylan seemed to believe that he and Emily was still in a relationship even though she had told the team that she had broken up with him. Had she lied to them? Moments after that thought crossed his mind, Morgan felt guilty. No, she wouldn't lie to them. She trusted her team and wouldn't risk anything like that again, not after Doyle.

What that left him with was even more disturbing. Her telling the truth meant that Dylan seriously believed that he and Emily were still in a relationship. Morgan's worries for his partner grew as he came to this realisation. He really needed to talk to Emily about it.

* * *

Emily woke up with a strangled cry and in cold sweat. Her trembling hands went to the scar at her stomach while at the same time, her wild eyes scanned the room for any threats. Seeing none, she tried to relax and forced herself to take deep, even breaths.

Moments before, she had been back in the cold wearhouse floor just about to get stabbed with the table leg. But this time it wasn't Doyle holding the leg as it had been in all those nightmares before, this time the table leg was in the hands of Dylan.

In her dream, the positions had been reversed to the once in reality. Instead of her standing over Dylan, Dylan had been hovering over her with a sinister smirk of his face. She had felt his icy stare bore holes into her and it had made her blood run cold. Moments before the table leg made a hole in her stomach, exactly like the one Doyle had created almost a year ago, Dylan locked eyes with her and his evil smile grew wider.

As the table lag was plunged in her stomach, Emily found herself unable to look away from Dylan's eyes. Her mind was screaming at her to look away but her body didn't comply. Still holding her gaze, Dylan leaned forward until his mouth was by her ear and Emily could feel his breath against her cheek. Seconds passed, seconds that felt like hours to her, before he whispered: _You're mine, Emily_.

That had been when she woke up, those words still ringing in her ears and her heart racing. _You're mine Emily, you're mine Emily, you're mine... _

By now, she had manage to calm herself down and was able to remove her hands from her scar only to touch her bruised cheek and cut lip.

With her mind running wild, she felt the remains from her last encounter with Dylan and questioned herself why she hadn't kicked his ass for what he did to her. It was a stupid question to ask herself since she already knew the answer to it; she didn't want to inflict the same pain on him as he was inflicting on her.

Deep down, she still had feelings for him. Feelings that had started small and then developed for months. Feelings that would take a while to get rid of, she concluded. Even though she didn't want to have these feelings for him anymore after what he had done, she couldn't make them go away.

* * *

When she entered the doors of the Police station, she had put her fears from this morning and her unwanted feelings for Dylan in a box and shoved it as far back as possible in her mind. She walked inside with only one thing in mind; coffee.

The nightmare had resulted in an uneasy sleep and she barely felt any more rested than she had the night before.

To get to the station she had carpooled with Rossi and JJ. As she walked with only one purpose in mind, she found them taking the same path. Emily wondered if they had gotten themselves a good night's sleep or if theirs', too, had been plagued by nightmares.

* * *

Morgan arrived to the station half an hour later with the other half of the team. He, on the other hand, had another purpose in mind than coffee when he walked through the doors of the station. He needed to talk to Emily about the phone call he had received this morning.

The first place he looked for her was in the conference room but when he got there, he was told that Emily had headed for the vending machine down the hall. After fetching a cup of crap coffee, Morgan then pursued his journey in that direction with his cup in hand.

Moments later, he spotted her. As he got closer and closer to her, he noted her tensed shoulders and the way she was rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. He hoped that she had managed to get some sleep last night but looking at her tired demeanour, he doubted it.

"Hey Em, you got a minute?" Morgan asked as he approached his partner standing next to the vending machine, just fetching a chocolate bar from the holder.

"Hey, yeah sure," Emily answered as she started to peel off the wrapper from her candy bar.

After unwrapping her chocolate bar, she turned to him and once again he was filled with rage for the man who had hurt her. The force in which he was gripping his cup of coffee increased and he had to remind himself to keep his cool.

The bruise on her chin had become a shade darker and the cut on her lip looked like it hurt like hell. He couldn't see the injuries done to her wrists as she wore a long sleeved shirt today, but he still knew they were there. And then he remembered the wound on the back of her head, the one that had left blood on his hand when he had examined her head.

While these thoughts kept running through his head, Morgan also considered how to broach the rather sensible subject of Emily's ex calling him at such an early hour only to accuse Morgan of sleeping with her.

He guessed he must have been quiet for quite a while when Emily felt the need to speak up.

"What's up?" she asked and looked expectantly at him, wondering what he wanted ot talk about and what was keeping him so quiet.

"Well..." he never made it further as he caught the sight of Hotch walking towards them with a stern expression.

Emily snapped up on Hotch's presence and they both turned to him, waiting to find out what had caused the tensed expression on his face.

"We're gathering in the conference room now!" Hotch told them when he was close enough for them to hear.

He only finished his sentence before he spun around on his heels and walked back in the same direction as he had come from.

Hotch had never been a man of words and the tone he used now, combined with his abrupt way of telling them to assemble, only made the Agents realise that something major had come up in the case.

They both started walking and Emily turned her attention back to Morgan. They had a little time before reaching the conference room and Emily opted to continue their previous conversation. "You were saying?" she asked in an attempt to make Morgan begin the conversation where he had left it, just about to tell her something that was clearly bugging him.

Realising that the time it would take for them to get to the conference room wouldn't be enough to discuss the matter, Morgan shrugged and decided to wait until the time was right instead of rushing it. "It's nothing important really," he lied looking over at Emily. "We can talk about it later," he then assured her with a smile.

Emily, who had gotten the feeling that he had wanted to talk about something important, felt the need to really make sure that it could indeed wait. "You sure?" Emily asked to confirm.

"Yeah, let's get in there and see what's got our Boss Man so riled up," Morgan said and held up the door for Emily to go through.

She smiled her thanks as she walked through the door and then walked over to the table where she pulled out a chair and sat down. Morgan followed her example and as they were the last to arrive to the room, Hotch started speaking.

"After we had left the crime scene yesterday, one of the techs found a valuable piece of the bomb which they, during the night, analysed at back at the lab."

To make sure everyone was on the same page, Hotch brought up a picture of the piece found at the scene on his tablet and showed it to the team. Morgan, having worked with bombs before, took a special interest in this piece of evidence and leaned forward to get a better look at it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Morgan asked as he reached out for the tablet and zoomed in on a particular spot.

"If what you mean is are those scratches a part of a signature, then yes your right," Hotch said. "They have also collected enough parts of the bombs from the different crime scenes to get an idea of how the bombs are wired and manufactured."

At this point of the conference, everyone was leaning forward to get a better look of the signature Hotch and Morgan were talking about. Morgan pointed it out for them to see and then they all saw it clearly.

Morgan was just about to ask the obvious question but Hotch, predicting he would do so, moved forward onto revealing more information about their most recent lead.

"I had Garcia do some digging into the worlds of bombs and their makers and she found a few possible matches, two looking slightly more interesting then the others." As he had been speaking he had dialled Garcia's number and was now waiting for her to pick up.

"_What can I do for you my furry friends?"_ Garcia greeted them as she picked up.

"Garcia, I need you to tell the others what you told me before," Hotch said, putting his hand on the table and leaning over it towards the phone placed in the middle it.

"_Well, as you probably know out Fearless Leader had me checking the things that go boom and the sickos that find pleasure in creating these type of horrible things. Anyways, this is what I've come up with. Out of the possible 32 people my initial search gave me, I narrowed it down to 15 by eliminating those who are rotting in jail and those who aren't on US soil at the moment. I highly doubt our Sicko is flying in and out of the county every time he's going take another innocent life..." _Garcia started to trail off.

"Baby Girl, you still with us?" Morgan asked as she became quiet on the other end of the line.

"_Oh that's right. I'm sorry! Where were I? Oh I remember!" _Garcia answered her own question before anyone else got the chance to do so. _"I cross referenced those 15 people with the profile you've created and came up with five possible suspects. I also let the once with unknown identity, meaning that they don't have an ID to go with the signature, stay on our list. So, to summarise, I have made a list of five people in which two are unknown identities. Meet number one."_

A photo of a white middle aged man popped up on the tablet and caught the Agents attention.

"_The man you're seeing right now is a forty two year old man named Stuart Lockwood. He is currently out on parole for blowing up cars in his neighbourhood. Apparently, his first intentions was to be on the other side of the law but when he failed to get in to the Police academy, he switched sides. I guess he then realised his mistake because since he got caught, he has appeared to be a model parolee. He checks in with his parole officer at given times and at the unauthorised visits to his home, they have found no material required for bomb making. More information about him can be found in the file I'm faxing over right now."_

The fax machine in the room roared to life and brought everyones attention away from the conversation for a few seconds. A new picture then popped up on the tablet and their attention was drawn back to it and Garcia.

"_The next one in our pool of suspects is former teacher at the Police Academy Bill Clemons, age forty eight, currently working as a garbage man in Salt Lake City. He used to turn to alcohol after working-hours and it was during one of those that he got arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. After he lost his job, his life continued the downward spiral. He was convicted of arson and animal abuse and was sent to jail for six years. Apparently, this pleasant man enjoys setting coworker's houses on fire and strapping bombs to animals only to film the explosions and later analyse how the anatomy of the animals changes the exact moment the bomb goes off. Do I even need to express my feelings for this man? No, probably not, but I will do that anyway. I think he is horrible and that he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life!" _Garcia informed them.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down and then her tune once again filled the conference room. Exactly like before, a new picture could be seen on the tablet as she started talking about possible UnSub number three.

"_Lucky number three on our list is former prison guard Michael Samson. His superiors thought he took a little too much interest in the inmates convicted of murder. It seems that the other guards on shift often found Samson outside a cell, eagerly listening to how the inmate described his killings. After getting fired he then went out and committed his own murders. He is now convicted of killing four people by placing a bomb beneath a school bus. The casualties connected to this crime was the bus driver, a thirty year old dad of two toddlers, and three middle school kids. For this heinous crime he got twenty years without parole. He was convicted when he was thirty two which would make him fifty two today. Unfortunately, those twenty years have been served three moths ago and today Michael Samson is a free man." _

This time the picture popping up on the tables was just a black silhouette with a question mark in the middle, surrounded by a white background.

"_As I mentioned before, we also have two bomb makers with unknown identities who turned up as a possible match for the partial signature and structure of the bomb," _Garcia told them._ "The first unknown identity, let's just call him or her Twisted Mind number one, made bombs that were used in association with environmentalists protesting outside a laboratory in which a make-up brand I've never heard about is extracting their products. Thanks to Twisted Mind number one's failure in bomb making, there were no causalities but one of the workers ended up in the hospital as a result form being sent flying into a brick wall by the blast."_

The last picture looked exactly like the one the just saw, except for a change of colour in the background. This time the background was grey.

"_And last but not least we have unknown identity number two who I now dub Twisted Mind number two. The story of this fellow is a little more grotesque than Twisted Mind number one's. Twisted Mind number two created a bomb, which he or she decided to deliver by mail. The receiver was then met by a rather unpleasant surprise as she opened her mail and got blown to pieces. The envelope containing the bomb was opened at her workplace and therefore the bomb also killed one of her coworkers and injured another," _they could all picture Garcia shivering as she relayed that fact. _"You may have a delightful time reading through the files on these wonderful people. I'm now going to watch a video of baby pandas playing and hopefully that will make me forget about the horrible images I have created in my head from reading about these peoples lives. Ciao!" _

The phone call ended and everyone focused on Hotch as he went to grab the papers Garcia had faxed them. He then returned to the table, papers in hand, and sat down in a chair.

"Okay, everyone let's grab a file and try to exclude as many possible UnSubs as you can," Hotch said as he put the files in the middle of the table.

Each Agent then reached out for one, flipped it open and started reading. Due to it only being five files, JJ and Morgan had to read together. Luckily, they read approximately in the same speed so it didn't turn out to be a problem.

Minutes passed as the team read about the lives of Stuart Lockwood, Bill Clemons, Michael Samson and Twisted Mind number one and two.

"I think we can exclude Michael Samson," Emily spoke up after a few minutes.

This caught everyones' attention and they abandoned the task of reading so that they could listen to Emily's thoughts.

"How come?" Rossi questioned.

"During his time in prison, he got stabbed by another inmate and ended up with a permanent injury to his left shoulder. I highly doubt he would be able to carry the victims all the way to the secondary crime scenes with a not fully function shoulder," Emily declared.

Hotch nodded his agreement. "I think you're right Prentiss. Let's make a pile of the excluded suspects over here," he said and pointed at a spot on the table "and one with the still possible over here." This time he pointed at another spot on the table.

"I find it unlikely that Twister Mind number one, the one associated with the protest against the laboratory, could be our UnSub," JJ said as Morgan nodded his head in agreement. They had both come to the same conclusion after reading the file.

Now everyones' attention was to her and Morgan.

"I think the bomb was made to make a statement or as a way of expressing his or hers feelings about the way the laboratory produces its products." JJ made a small pause before continuing. "If this was our UnSub, I would think he or she would target the laboratory's employees or other people associated with the company, not homeless people who can't even afford to buy the make-up the lab is producing."

Heads bopping up and down could be seen around the table as everyone expressed their satisfaction to her argument. Since everyone seemed to agree with her and Morgan, JJ closed the file and put it on top of Michael Samson's.

"I personally can't find anything that indicates that Stuart Lockwood is our UnSub," Hotch began after the file had landed on top of the other one. "Neither can I find anything in this file that indicates that he's not. From what I've read about him, I still consider him a possible assailant," Hotch declared with his eyes locked on a page in the file. He then glanced up to assess the others' reactions to his words.

"He was the one who failed to get in to the Academy, right?" Morgan asked.

"That's right," Hotch replied.

"How come?" Morgan wondered.

"He barely passed his psychological test and then he flunked out on the physiological. He was immediately declared as unfit for police work."

"That could be his primary trigger and the reason for him to start blowing up the cars in his neighbourhood," Rossi concluded and the others showed various sings of agreement.

The room felt silent for a minute before Reid spoke up.

"You said earlier that you couldn't find anything that indicates that he could be our UnSub nor anything that makes it possible to cross him off the list. If you'd like, I can take a look at the file and see if I find something you missed," he offered, directing his words towards Hotch.

"Two pair of eyes is always better than one," was Hotch's response to the younger Agent's suggestion. He then leaned over the table and handed the file on Lockwood to Reid. "What have you come up with from reading about Clemons?"

Reid, who had placed the file he recently received on the table next to his coffeecup, was just about to answer when the door to the conference room violently opened. The Agents' heads whipped around as it did and they could all see Detective Moore standing in the doorway, looking startled.

"Sorry to interrupt but the station just received another envelope containing a photograph of a teenage girl and a map and this time he also sent us a recorder containing a message."

Hotch was the first person to rise and the others quickly followed. "Where is it?" he then asked, a stern look on his face. The UnSub was escalating. They only found his previous victim yesterday. If his escalation was because the FBI was had arrived or if they had agitated him by almost saving Charlotte, Hotch didn't know. What he did know though was that this wasn't good. Not good at all.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so Dylan is back and our bad guy has claimed another victim. Wonder how this is going to play out... Please leave me a review with your thoughts. Reviews motivates me, of course, but it also gives me a sense of what you readers like and/or what you don't like. I hope you've had a good time since you last found your way here and hopefully I'll see you guys next time!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hello! Thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter, I appreciate it. Now I'm back with the next part of this story and hopefully you'll like it. Happy reading!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

The landscape outside the racing car was beautiful but none of the Agents took any notice. Both of them sat quiet, lost in their own thoughts while at the same time preparing themselves for what to come. Gruesome images materialised in front of their eyes and they both knew that the chance of finding their latest victim alive was slim.

With the latest victim, much had changed. First of all, the UnSub had changed victimology. The girl they were on their way to try to save right now wasn't a runaway teenager living on the street. She was a fourteen year old, C-student living in a middle class home with a loving family. His change of victimology hadn't made sense to any of the Agents, neither to the Detectives and Officers at the station.

Secondly, he had changed the time range in which the Agents were suppose to find the girl and save her. Before, they had had approximately twelve hours, now he had given them eight. According to the recording the UnSub had sent them, along with the map and the photo, this was his way of upgrading the game.

As they kept driving Emily's thoughts went to that recording they had played after following Detective Moore to the front desk where the envelope had been delivered by mail. The envelope and its content had been examined for prints or any trace of DNA by the techs but they had come up empty handed, just like with the others.

The words of their UnSub kept running through Emily's mind.

"_Hi guys! You find me so hard to catch that you call in the big shots? The F B I. One of their elite teams, nothing less. Well, seeing you fibbies was a blast, don't you think?" _The voice had taken a pause to laugh at its own joke before continuing in a serious matter.

"_Now on to business. Now that I have seen how the elite work, I know what to expect. By the way, I have to admit I'm impressed. I clearly underestimated you when I first heard you were brought in. Only too bad you didn't get there minutes before, then the woman would be safe at home by now. Too bad, too bad..."_ the voice had mocked them._"But that's life my friends; you can't always win. Anyhow, since the local Police decided to change the game, so have I. You will now only have eight hours until the girl will get what I like to call well done. Let's see who is the winner of this round, shall we?"_

The voice had been altered with some help from a voice scrambler, therefore there was no chance to use it as a reference in voice comparison against their suspects at the moment. What kept the Agents' hopes up was that the recording had been sent over to Garcia and they were all wishing that she could work some of her magic on it.

Emily was abruptly brought back to the present when Morgan accelerated. He pressed his foot against the pedal, forcing it closer to the floor of the car which caused Emily to reach out for whatever she could find to stabilise herself. Whatever she could find turned out to be the top of the glove compartment and her seat belt. When then Morgan drove the vehicle out of its former orbit by making a sharp turn to the left, the grip Emily had on the objects hardened.

Ten minutes ago they had been back at the station, frantically trying to come up with a location to where their UnSub might be holding his victim. It was Reid, not to their surprise, who finally had managed to narrow it down to three possible locations. By then their deadline to find the missing woman was almost upon them, making it impossible to search one separate location at a time so Hotch had split the team into three and ordered them to get to their cars as quick as possible while at the same time grab a few Officers to help them with the search. The ambulance and bomb squad were suppose to wait on stand-by, approximately in the middle of all three locations until one of the groups called for them. They would then head off in the direction that the call had come from.

After recovering from the drastic turn Morgan had made, Emily glanced in the review mirror. She searched for the Officers tailing them in a squad car on their way to the possible location but she couldn't spot them. She reasoned that they hadn't been prepared for Morgan's rapid change of direction and had probably not had the time to even register the turn before it was to late.

After a total of sixteen minutes the Agents had arrived to the location. It was a remote house in the middle of a forest with no neighbours in a five mile radius, a prefect location for a killer to bring his victims to. The house they suspected the woman to be held in looked like it was about to fall apart. The front door was ajar and the windows were cracked or broken. The yellow paint that had once covered the house was long gone and now only flakes remained. The roof was covered in rotting leaves which had been delivered to it by the trees surrounding the house. The stairs leading up the the front door were missing steps and on the porch, pots, which had once contained flowers, had cracked because of the cold the winter had provided a few moths ago, or previous years, Emily didn't know.

Morgan and Emily exited the vehicle, their bulletproof vests already strapped on, and looked at the house. The Officers hadn't yet come to arrive to the location and knowing that their time was limited, Emily came to the conclusion that if they were about to enter the house, they would have to do it without any back-up.

"How much time do we have until the bomb is suppose to go off?" Emily asked looking at her left wrist, forgetting about her lack of watch. When she found none, she let out a frustrated sigh.

Morgan on the other hand, had his watch on and checked the time before answering. "If the Detective who found the map got it right it should leave us about fifteen minutes but I wouldn't count on that, so pretty much any minute now."

He looked up from his watch and caught Emily's eyes. What he saw in them was the same emotions as his own reflected; unease, determination, hope and if you looked really closely you could see a hint of fear hiding behind the other emotions.

"I'm willing to go inside," Emily stated and turned her gaze to the house. The sunset had started and she had to hold her hand above her eyes to avoid getting blinded by the sun.

The possibility of them saving the woman that may be inside made her fear of getting blown up smaller. Sure, it was a possibility that this might be the last minutes of her life but she had accepted the possibility of dying while on the job a long time ago. Right now her main concern was for the woman that might be inside the house she was now gazing up on. She was prepared to risk her own life to possibly save another. She turned her gaze back to Morgan as she waited for him to respond to her latest statement.

"So am I," he responded and that was all she needed to hear before setting off in a sprint towards the house closely followed by Morgan all while drawing their weapons.

They reached the porch in matter of seconds and Morgan nodded for Emily to take the lead. She edged the barrel of her gun in the gap between the door and the doorpost before opening it. As she did, the door creaked and both Agents hoped that if the UnSub was inside, he hadn't heard it.

What met them on the other side of the door was a dark living room filled with dusty air an no UnSub. Emily quickly scanned the room and silently cleared it before moving on to the next one. Morgan was walking closely behind her all while turning the knobs of the closed doors they walked by.

The next room turned out to be the kitchen which held a stair up to the second floor. Emily gestured for Morgan to ascend the stairs and got a small nod back in confirmation. She heard the stairs creak under his weight and once again she hoped that the UnSub wasn't lurking on them in a dark corner.

She moved on to complete her task of searching the kitchen and came up with nothing but an itchy nose. The dusty air was much worse in the kitchen than it was in the living room. Emily guessed it must be because of the slightly opened door in the living room which allowed fresh air to swirl inside the room once in a while.

Next on her to do list was checking behind the closed door in the kitchen. She placed herself in position and raised her gun to shoulder hight before opening the door with her left hand, gun resting steadily in her right.

The room was practically pitch black due to the lack of windows and Emily had to wait for her eyes to adjust before stepping inside.

It was a small room containing mostly shelves which made Emily assume the space was used for storage. On the shelves she found boxes labeled differently which confirmed her assumptions. It took no more than thirty seconds to clear the storage and she had soon found her way back to the living room again were she looked for any more adjoining rooms.

She was just about to open a door she found next to the bookshelf when she heard Morgan calling for her. She abandoned her task and hurried up the stairs, always staying alert to any drastic movements or anything feeling like it was out of place because one thing you quickly learned while working in law enforcement was to never let your guard down. The nice old lady with a lost kitten could very likely be the one laundering money in her basement, or the lost teenager could be the guy who recently beat up one of his friends over drugs. The point is, whenever you are on the job, never let your guard down.

At the top of the stairs Emily thought she heard a muffled sound but when she tried to locate where it came from, she wasn't successful. She ended up calling Morgan's name to locate which room he was in and when she finally found him he was crouching down by a chair. In the room she also found the source of the muffled noise she had heard before.

In the chair the teenaged girl they had been locking for, Emelie Johnson, was sitting with tears running down her face and a cloth covering her mouth, muffling her screams for help. When Emily had entered the room the girl's gaze had moved from watching Morgan, struggling to undo the knots tying her legs secured to the wooden leg, to Emily's. Emily looked into the girl's slightly unfocused bright blue eyes and thought that they looked very much like JJ's.

She then made a quick inventory of Emelie's state and concluded that their UnSub had aggravated. She could clearly see that Emelie had suffered at least one blow to the head from the bump on the top of her forehead. She also had a couple of bruises and cuts on her arms as well as her legs. Anyhow, the thing that really caught Emily's attention was the clean cuts on the girl's chest that wasn't covered in clothes. Apparently their UnSub had taken a liking for knives and had used Emelie as a carving board.

Emily's evaluation of the girl had only taken seconds and she was quickly brought back to reality by Morgan's voice.

"I just found her and we need to hurry! The clock next to her is showing six and a half minute and is still counting down!"

Emily raced over to his side and started working on the other knot that Morgan wasn't struggling with. As she did, she comprehended that she could have done a better job if she didn't have so damn short nails.

Ever since returning from France she had done her best to get rid of her nasty habit of biting her nails and had actually succeeded for quite some time. She had had a small relapse after the whole bank robbery thing when she feared for the life of JJ's husband, Will, and almost got blown up but she had soon gotten back on the right track. Since then, her nails had grown longer but not long enough to really facilitate the task on untying knots meant to stay knots.

When she finally got the rope off the girl's right leg, she moved on to attempting to free her right arm. Morgan had already started on the left one and she could see him throwing worried glances at the clock, still counting down their time left before the bomb was about to go off.

Emily didn't have as much problem with the knot tied around the girl's arm as she had with the one around Emelie's leg and she removed it just in time to see Morgan doing the same thing to the other rope formerly securing the girl's arms to the chair.

The girl, so relieved to finally be free, quickly stood up and yanked the cloth out of her mouth in the process. What she hadn't counted on was the sudden rush of blood to her legs and she ended up getting dizzy. She started to sway and Emily and Morgan quickly grabbed her, steadying her while at the same time silently communicating with each other.

They needed to get out of that house now if the didn't wish to become fried alive!

None of them vocalise their next move, they didn't need to. While keeping their steadying hold on the girl, they started to move towards the stairs. To steady the girl further, both Agents took a hold of the girl's waist and put her arms around respective neck. Together they kept the weak girl upright while walking down the stairs.

After descending the stairs Morgan realised that they would get out faster if he carried the teenager since they both would be able to run that way. He told Emily about his realisation and she agreed.

In one swift move, Morgan had the girl in his arms.

To make the whole thing easier for Morgan, Emily ran ahead and held the door open for him to race though before closing it and tailing him. They had just made it back to their car when they felt the blast from the bomb throwing them to the ground. The noise was overwhelming and for a few seconds both Agents experienced a loud ringing in their ears.

When they had regained most of their hearing they looked at the now burning house and then back at each other.

"You okay?" Morgan asked while letting his eyes travel her body, searching for any visible injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Emily answered while letting her eyes do the same thing as his was. She couldn't find any sign of him being hurt, except a scraped knuckled on the hand still having a safe grip on the teenage girl. "You?"

"I'm all good," came his reply and Emily let her eyes wander back to the burning building.

As she did, a nagging feeling in the back of her mind made itself present. She felt like she was being watched. She let her paranoia take over and allowed her eyes to drifted across the surrounding area. They abruptly stopped when she spotted something black lurking behind a tree, not far from the house. She squinted her eyes to get a better look and realised that it was, in fact, a person.

"That sick son of a bitch is hiding behind the trees!" Emily exclaimed as she shot to her feet. In an instant, she started to run towards the lurking figure and as soon as she did, the figure started move too. Behind her she could her Morgan telling her to stop but she ignored him and kept running.

The ground connected with her boots as she continued to sprint towards the mystic figure and she had, once again, unholstered her weapon. With her gun in hand she jumped over stumps and rocks as she was pursuing her chase. A tree branch was in her way and she had to duck to avoid getting it in her face. She hoped that Morgan had radioed it in because she sure as hell didn't have time for that right now.

After some time, she lost visual of their suspect. She kept moving forward in hopes of spotting him again. By now the trees were placed further apart and she thought she saw a wooden bridge behind some branches.

She slowed down and brought up her gun. Her breathing was rapid from the fast chase and she tried to slow it down while walking close to the suspected bridge with cautious steps.

As Emily got closer, she got her suspicions confirmed. The bridge appeared to be very old and in a bad condition. The wood used to build the passage was in a suspicious shade of brown and Emily doubted anyone had used it for years.

The railing was made of wooden poles placed far apart and between them, rotting ropes hang. Emily guessed they were suppose to serve as banister but for the looks of it, the rope would more likely cause the fall then prevent it.

Emily continued moving closer and as she did, she got a vision of what was beneath the bridge. Approximately twelve feet under was a pond in a condition that reminded Emily of a mouldy soup. Green water slowly moved around and by the shore, a dead fish could be seen. From the smell of it, Emily's association wasn't to far off.

She slowly made her way over to the beginning of the bridge and tenderly stepped on it with one foot. The bridge creaked a little under her weight but it didn't break. She scanned the area around her, hoping to spot the suspect before placing her other foot on the bridge which she didn't.

* * *

Back at the burning house, Morgan was frustrated with Emily that she had taken off on her own but he knew he would probably had done the same thing if the roles had been reversed. He wanted nothing more than to run after her and be her back-up during the chase but that wasn't an option at the moment. He glanced down at the girl still in his arms and knew he could never leave her alone after just rescuing her from getting blown up. He had to wait for back-up to arrive before he could run after Emily.

The blast had scared the girl even more. Of that Morgan was sure because ever since they had been flung to the ground, tears had been running down her face. She hadn't spoken yet and Morgan thought of it as a part of her being in a state of shock.

He held on to the girl as he radioed in the latest event and told them to hurry. The others quickly responded and told him that they were on their way. He also managed to get a hold of the Officers who were suppose to be at the scene. They told him they had missed the drastic turn but had driven back and were now a minute away form the location. Morgan told them to hurry because his partner was pursuing a chase of the UnSub without back-up. The Officers understood the urgency and told him to hold on.

Accurate to their saying, a minute later the squad car arrived and the Officers ran his way.

During the wait, the girl had calmed down a little and stopped crying. She still hadn't spoken to him, even though he had tried to get her to talk by asking her all types of questions.

"I need one of you to stay with her and the other one to follow me!" Morgan barked out as the Officers approached.

Morgan then got to his feet and fetched his weapon before starting to run off into the woods. He could hear the steps of the Officer behind him and quickened the pace. His eyes searched the woods but he didn't see neither Emily or the dark clothed figure she had spotted behind the trees minutes before. Where the hell was she?

* * *

By now Emily was almost halfway across the bridge and her all her senses were on alert. _Where is he?_ she thought. It was like he had disappeared in to thin air.

She kept turning around, scanning the path behind her before turing back. In front of her, nothing more than branches with leaves could be seen.

The sound of a branch breaking had her spinning around and surveying the area but nothing could be seen. Frustrated because she had still not found the suspect, she turned back around. Only too bad she hadn't kept her eyes trained on the path behind her because seconds after doing so, she felt something collide with her from the behind which sent her off balance.

* * *

They were still racing through the woods, hoping that they were heading in the right direction. They were still lacking any knowledge of which way Emily had been running through the woods during the chase and the unease Morgan had felt before grew.

What he really wanted to do was to call out her name but he knew that was to risky. If the suspect heard him he would realise more people were after him and they would lose the element of surprise. It was better to let him assume it was only Emily chasing him.

A few feet later Morgan's blood ran cold and he started having second thoughts about not calling out her name as the sound of a gunshot rang through the woods.

* * *

The impact caused her to loose her footing and she ended up stumbling forward.

She quickly recovered and spun around.

Behind her, a tall figure dressed in a black hoodie and dark jeans was swinging its hands towards her. She didn't have the time to aim and shoot before the second punch delivered by him landed. She managed to avoid getting punched in the face, which was what he had been aiming for, and got hit on the shoulder instead. This time the blow sent her stumbling backwards. She lost the grip she had on her Glock as she realised it to grab a hold of the not so secure railing to steady herself.

Seeing the Glock land next to her right foot she made a move for it. She managed to get a loose grip on it before she was pushed back against the railing. She then heard a crack and felt herself falling.

She fell, looking up at the bridge she could see the hooded figure looking down on her. Determined to make one last move, Emily brought her gun up, aimed and fired three shots.

As her back touched the cold water, a cry of pain could be heard from the bridge. Satisfaction filled her demeanour as she went under water. She got him.

* * *

His heart was pounding as he raced towards what he thought had been the source of the gunshot. Please let it be Emily who fired, Morgan prayed as he kept running between the tree branches and rocks that covered his path.

The pounding in his ears made him uncertain but he thought he heard a splash not far away from where he was. Even though his muscles were already burning, he once again quickened the pace and pushed them further. Sweat was running down his forehead and the sweat on his palms made his grip on the gun slippery.

After another duck to avoid getting slapped by a tree branch, he reached a bridge. By the bridge, the sound of splashing was louder and Morgan guessed that there was water beneath it. Curious about what was causing these splashing sounds, he moved towards the edge of the hill to get a better look. What he saw sent a small wave of panic through his body.

Twelve feet down, a body was just breaking the surface of the water. He immediately recognised the dark hair and the pale skin, it was Emily. Once she got her head above the water she started coughing and spitting. He heard her gulp for air and watched as she removed her hair from her face.

"Are you okay?" Morgan called down, worry etched in his voice.

Emily, not aware of his presence, spun around in the water trying to locate him. It didn't take long for her to do so.

"I'm fine," Emily coughed once she had spotted him. "I think I hit him, you should go after him!"

More determined to find out if she really was fine or if she was just telling him so, Morgan asked her again. "Are you sure you're okay? Did you get hit?"

Frustrated with him for not trusting her word, she sighed. "Morgan, I told you before, I'm fine!" she shouted in a raspy voice. "I didn't get hit. From what I could see, he didn't even have a gun."

Emily made a short pause to spit out some water that had found its way into her mouth.

"I think he went that way," she finished and pointed in a direction.

Resolute to leave her, Morgan looked to where she was pointing then back to her. She did look okay though. She didn't look any worse than last time he saw her, not that her condition had been supreme then, but still. The only difference he could detect at the moment was the fact that she was soaking wet.

He took one hesitant step away from the edge and looked down at her. He could see she was getting frustrated with him for not doing as she told him to. Morgan reasoned that since he hadn't spotted any new injuries, it was best to do as she told him and start searching for the suspect. An angry Emily Prentiss wasn't something he wanted to deal with later so he turned around after one last glance down at her and gestured for the Officer to follow him across the bridge.

* * *

Emily continued coughing and watched as Morgan finally ran over the bridge, heading in the direction she suspected the man had run off in.

Once she had made him search for the suspect, she concentrated on herself. Her back stung from its impact with the surface and if she had to take a wild guess, she would say a bruise was now developing on it. She made a mental inventory of the rest of her body and came up with a sore shoulder and some scraped knuckles but nothing severe.

During her fall, she had made sure she had had an iron grip on her gun. What made her do so was the fact that she didn't want to be the one forcing the divers into this creepy water only to retrieve her gun. Happy with her accomplishment to keep the gun in her hand during the fall, she put it back in its holster in which time she also kept treading water to keep herself above the surface.

She looked up at the stone walls surrounding her on both sides and concluded that they were to steep for climbing on. She spun around in the water and searched for either a less steep wall or a lower one.

Not too far away she thought she could see a possible way to get out of this pond of toxic waste. Because she was pretty sure that was what she had ended up in. The water tasted so weird Emily was afraid she might catch a incurable disease if she swallowed any more of it. When falling down a amount of water had made its way down her throat without her consent and she hardly thought she would ever be able to get rid of the taste.

She swam in the direction she thought she had spotted her way up from this soup. She didn't want to think about what the icky stuff she accidentally came across with her hands were as she swam so she kept her focus on her goal.

Exactly like she had thought, the wall she had seen was a bit lower and not as steep as the one near the bridge was. As she reached for the first uneven space to put her hand around she felt a strain in her shoulder and cursed in french.

"Merde," she swore and once again forced herself to reach for the next place to put her hand.

She kept hauling herself up by placing her hands and feet on the uneven cliff and had just made it all the way up when she felt a hand on her back.

The sudden contact made her jerk away and she would have ended up back in the pond of toxic waste if it hadn't been for the grip around her arm.

"Take it easy, Princess," Morgan coaxed as he felt her move away.

"How about announcing yourself before getting all hands on," Emily said sarcastically.

Her snappy comment made Morgan chuckle. "I see that the fall did't knock the smart ass comments out of you."

"Why would it? They have survived things much worse than this," Emily smiled and gratefully accepted Morgan's help to get up.

Once standing upright, Emily looked down at her soaked clothes. "Great," she mumbled. She would defiantly have to throw them because she would never get the smell out of them. "Did you catch him?" she then asked as she looked back up.

"No, the bastard must have known where to go or he's still hiding out there somewhere..." Morgan said with a frustrated sigh. "But you were right, you did shoot him. From the looks of it, you didn't hit any major arteries because the blood trail he left wasn't that big but the fact that he did leave a blood trail is one hell of a good thing. Now we have DNA," Morgan smiled. "I told the Officer to call in the techs and then to guard the trail to make sure nobody contaminates it."

"Good," Emily said.

"How about you, did you get a good look at him?" Morgan asked hopefully.

"No, that piece of ass kept his hoodie on and prevented me from getting a good look of his ugly mug. I only got what we already know, white man in his late forties to early fifties," Emily sighed.

"Too bad," Morgan said in disappointment.

They silently started walking their way back to the bridge and Emily could feel him studying her. When she had had enough of his staring, she decided to confront him.

"What?" she asked looking at him.

Morgan stopped and turned to her. "What were you thinking, running off on your own like that? You could have been killed," Morgan tried to keep his voice straight but some of his anger had shone trough.

"I was thinking that I had the opportunity to stop the person who almost blew us up from hurting any more people," Emily defended her actions in a stern voice. "And don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same if it had been me holding the girl and you spotting him because I know you would have done what I did."

Morgan let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hands over his bald head. "I know, I know but still, I don't like you running off like that without any back-up."

"I can take care of myself," Emily argued, her temper starting to show.

"That's not what I meant," Morgan breathed. "I'm not saying that you can't because I know you can, what I meant was that I don't want to see you get hurt. And that I find it very frustrating when I can't be there to back you up. You are my partner and that means I'm suppose to have your back. Always."

Sensing that maybe Morgan wasn't only talking about what had happened today, Emily tried to see the resent event form from his point of view. If he, her partner, would have shown up all black and blue to work only to days later run after a man suspected of killing five people how would she feel? Probably the same as Morgan was feeling right now, she concluded.

"Okay, I get it," Emily said in a understanding tone. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you when you're only trying to look out for me."

Morgan smiled as he accepted her apology. His smile caused the corners of her mouth to curl into one too. He then threw his arm around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze only to seconds later realise his mistake as he felt his shirt getting wet.

"Woman, you are making me wet," he teased and wiggled his eyebrows as he let go of her.

"And that's a problem?" Emily played along and raised her eyebrows, looking mischievously at Morgan.

"Only when you stink," he grinned and gave her shoulder a light push.

"Haha, very funny Derek," Emily said dryly as she faked being offended.

Neither one of them could keep a serious face for long and ended up in laughter. Morgan was the first one to lose it and when he lost it, Emily couldn't keep a straight face anymore and joined in on his laughter.

* * *

_A/N: So what do you think of our little baddie? He's kind of bold, sending them a recording like that. Anyways, come back next time to find out how Hotch will react to Emily's little stunt, running off alone like that..._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I apologise for the long wait, school has been very hectic these last couple of days before Christmas. I've been studying for exams and finished writing my essays. I've also had to find some time to go Christmas shopping for a few hours. Anyhoo, here it is. Happy reading and enjoy!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

The rest of the team watched from inside their cars as Morgan and Emily emerged from the woods, one soaking wet and the other one with a resolute face.

The duo made it over to the team as the ambulance drove away in a hurry, the teenager safe inside.

"What happened?" JJ asked as soon as the two were within hearing distance.

"He threw me into the pond," Emily casually answered and wrung her wet hair. A pool of discoloured water formed next to her right foot as she did.

"Who? Morgan?" JJ asked in puzzlement and sent Morgan an accusatory glance.

Morgan's eyebrows rose and then he gave JJ a 'you can't be serious' look.

"No, not Morgan," Emily quickly answered. "The UnSub, or at least who I think is our UnSub."

"The UnSub was here?" Reid asked bewildered.

"Apparently he likes to watch," Emily said with a shrug.

Up until this point Hotch had kept quiet but now he felt the need to get a hold of things. "Can we please just rewind the tape for a minute. How come you ended up in the pond?"

Morgan started to tell them about how they had arrived at the scene without any back-up, he also made sure to explained why so that the Officers wouldn't be blamed. He then moved on to telling the team about how he and Emily had decided to try to save the girl that was possibly inside the house and how they had made a run for it. He systematically told them about the events leading up to them finding the girl and how they had made it out just in time before the house exploded.

After finish telling them about how Emily had seen the dark clothed figure hiding behind the trees and taking off in a sprint Morgan turned to Emily. He was waiting for her to tell them about the events that took place after Emily had seen the lurking figure, what resulted with her in a pond of toxic waste and left the UnSub with a hole in his arm.

Emily told them about how she had spotted him and raced towards him. He had then started to run himself and the chase had begun. She told them how she had managed to stay behind him for pretty much the entire time but that she lost him before she reached the bridge.

"And as you could see, Morgan, the bridge wasn't in a pristine condition..." she said turning to him.

Furthermore, she told them about how she had searched the bridge only to be ambushed by the UnSub. She told them about the short fight and how he had managed to disarm her, only to throw her off the bridge once she had the gun in hand. She elaborated on how she had hit him at least once before going under water and then told them about how Morgan had showed up.

"I told Morgan to run after him but he stayed put and kept asking if I was okay. He refused to leave before I had told him that I were fine, twice," Emily said and glared at him.

"Seriously, Prentiss, we already went over this back at the pond," Morgan drawled.

"Fine!" Emily said and threw her hands up in mock surrender.

Hotch, who had listened carefully to their story, comprehended everything they had told him and came up with some unanswered questions.

"Morgan, why didn't you go with her?" he asked the younger Agent.

Morgan realised then that he had forgot to tell them about the part where he had been forced to stay at the house because of the girl who had been sobbing in his arms, so he did.

"I understand," Hotch said mostly to himself, one less question circulating his mind. Then he turned to Emily.

"You broke protocol," he said to her with a stern face.

She hadn't been expecting that, maybe a how are you or a good job but definitely not that. "Excuse me?" Emily asked in confusion.

"We specifically told the Officers and Detectives not to pursue any kind of chase if they came across the UnSub when they were alone. That's exactly what you did."

The rest of the team subconsciously took a few steps back from the circle that had formed to give the two some privacy to discuss the serious matter.

"Hotch, I almost got him!" By now Emily's confusion had turned into irritation. She had done a good job!

"It doesn't matter, Prentiss. You almost getting him nearly resulted in your death. I can't have Agents running off on their own into what, most likely, would be a certain death. If not lucky, which you were this time. I know that did the trick in the Agency but that's not how it works at the Bureau."

At first, she felt herself pale, then she was fuming. Why was he talking to her like it was her first day at the job? And how dare he bring up the sensible subject of her time with the Agency in front of the others? He knew perfectly well how her work there had messed up her relationship with the team and the few she had with anyone outside the office.

The other Agents standing a few feet away, pretending to not listen, felt the air becoming heavier and started to doubt that the fight was simply about Emily running after the UnSub alone like she had.

JJ watched as her friend paled and then tensed. She suspected that Hotch's comment had something to do with Emily's trust in the team and to be honest, JJ couldn't blame him for questioning it. She still felt a little bit betrayed that Emily hadn't confided in her and told her that she had been dating someone for as long as she had.

Rossi, who listened to every word the two Agents exchanged, noticed the other Agents sending each other looks. He choose to avoid eye contact with them since he didn't want to partake in the silent conversation. If he was about to take a wild guess he would say that some unresolved issues from the Doyle-thing still remained between superior and subordinate.

Morgan, feeling the urge to defend Emily's actions since he would have done exactly the same, then decided to speak up after silently communicating with the others.

"She did what she thought was right," Morgan argued and took a stand next to his partner. He had seen the way her face had paled when Hotch had brought up the subject of her CIA work and Morgan hoped that his words would work as some sort of support. He was afraid that she was more vulnerable than she usually was because of how her last couple of days have been.

The look Hotch sent Morgan told him that the conversation was between him and Emily only and that everybody else should stay out of it. Since the look Morgan received told him to back off, he did. But not before sending Hotch a stare of disapproval.

"I need to trust my Agents to follow their own guidelines," Hotch said cooly, indicating what they had said while giving their profile on the UnSub: do not pursue a chase without any back-up.

"What would you've said if I had caught him? If I had, you would've given me a pat on the shoulder. Not scold me for doing my job!"

"I would still have told you that what you did was wrong," Hotch told her matter of factly.

"Yeah right," Emily snorted.

"I suggest you watch your mouth, Prentiss. This discussion is over for now and I don't want to see you repeat this mistake again, because if you do then you're off this case. Have I made myself clear?" Hotch locked eyes with her and waited for her confirmation.

It took every once of self control Emily had to keep the snappy comment she had waiting on the tip of her tongue from leaving her mouth. Instead of giving him a verbal answer she gave him a reluctant nod accompanied by an angry glare.

"Good," Hotch said and chose to ignore the glare he got from her. "I'm ordering you to go to the hospital to have a Doctor examine you."

"I don't need to go to the hospital!" Emily immediately argued.

"That's an order," Hotch said in a tone that clearly told her there was no room for arguing. "And we'll need your clothes for evidence."

"Oh, do you suggest I go to the hospital naked?!" Emily mouthed off.

"Come on Emily, we'll find some dry clothes for you to wear and then I'll take you," JJ chimed in and prevented Emily from getting into more trouble than she already was in. JJ then reached out for Emily's arm, took a gentle but determined hold of it and started leading her towards one of the SUVs.

"I can walk on my own!" Emily snarled and yanked her arm free. "Where do you suggest we'll find me any dry clothes? It's not like anyone walks around with an extra pair to a crime scene?"

"I'll find some," JJ assured her and walked over to one of the squad cars parked a few feet away from their own vehicles.

After a few minutes she returned with an oversized sweat shirt and a pair of sweats at least three sizes too big for Emily.

"The nice Officer over there let you borrow these," JJ said once she reached Emily's side and held out the clothes for her to grab.

She took the clothes from JJ and from the look on JJ's face, Emily figuring out that she wanted her to thank the Officer who had been kind enough to lend her the clothing. Emily gave the man a laboured smile which he returned with a more genuine one.

"I guess he didn't have any underwear to offer?" Emily said sarcastically as she opened one of the backdoors of the car and climbed in.

Emily was thankful for the tinted windows as she started to strip out of her wet clothes. It wasn't her first time changing in the backseat of a car and the clothes came off smoothly.

During her teenage years, changing in the backseat of a car had become a habit. On her way to a party, she left the house in regular clothing with the more provocative ones stuffed in a backpack. She had put them there so that she wouldn't cause any suspicion of where she was going if the staff ever saw her leave the house. After leaving the house she usually walked a few blocks before one of her friends picked her up and let her change in the backseat. Those nights usually ended with her highly intoxicated, either in someones bed or on the bathroom floor next to the toilet. Never in her own home though. She couldn't risk her mother finding out what she did when she left the house.

Emily dumped her wet pile of fabric on the floor of the car but kept her underwear on. She wasn't about to go to the hospital without any panties or a bra, besides she couldn't come up with a good reason for them to be included as evidence. It's not like collecting them would get them any closer to catching their UnSub.

She picked up the sweat shirt from the pile of dry ones and slid it over her head after she had disposed of her wet clothes. While she did so, she noticed that it read Utah Police Department on the back of the shirt. She got curious about if the pants had the same print on them and turned them around before putting them on. When she didn't come up with anything, she turned them back around, slid them up her legs and fastened them at her hips.

Thanks to her experiences of changing in cars, the ordeal didn't take long and soon she exited the backseat wearing the way too big clothes while holding her own in her hands.

Outside the car Emily was met by JJ who held out a bag for her to put the wet clothes in. Emily did so and then went to sit in the passenger seat, crossed her arms and put them over her mid torso. She was now impatiently waiting for JJ, who had walked over to Hotch to give him the bag, to return so that they could make the, according to Emily, very unnecessary trip to the hospital.

* * *

Emily sat fuming all the way to the hospital and JJ, who had been given strict orders not to let Emily drive, had abandoned the task of trying to start a conversation after Emily only had answered her questions with one word sentences.

JJ knew not to take Emily's bad mood personal and accepted the fact that Emily spent her time slightly angled away from her, looking out the window.

The car came to a halt outside the hospital and JJ thought she might not have any other option than to carry Emily inside when Emily surprised her by stepping out of the car as soon as it had stopped moving. Once out of the car, Emily started walking towards the entrance in a rapid pace and JJ hurried after, locking the car with the remote car key as she tried to keep up with her friend.

Inside, the atmosphere was like expected at hospital. Anxiety radiated from the friends and family members who were seated in the waiting room. Nurses and Doctors hurried past them and the strong smell of whatever kept the place so clinically clean attacked their noses and made them sting. In the back of the hall, a counter could be seen and that was what Emily set her course towards.

She zigzagged her way forward and JJ tried to keep up the pace. Nothing else than determination could now be seen on Emily's face.

"My name is Agent Emily Prentiss. My superior is forcing me to have a check up before he allows me back in the field and I need you to check for any available personnel capable of preforming that task," Emily told the nurse behind the counter as she slammed her credentials down for her to see.

"Ehm.. Sure let me check," the Nurse said as her fingers started hitting the keyboard connected to the computer in front of her. "Doctor Hemingway just finished her rounds and should be available to assist you."

The Nurse finished talking and turned her head up to meet Emily's eyes. What she saw in them were irritation, anger and frustration. "I'll page her right away. You can wait over there," the Nurse said and pointed to a corner where a few chairs stood.

"Fine," Emily said and stomped her way to the chairs.

JJ had made a point of keeping herself in the background, only not to agitate Emily any further, but now after witnessing her friend's rude behaviour towards the Nurse she felt the need to apologise.

"I'm sorry about my friend," JJ began with an apologetic smile. "She's kind of having a bad day, or maybe more like a bad week," she corrected herself. "She is usually not that rude and I'm sorry about that."

The Nurse gave JJ a grateful smile and then looked over to where Emily was now seated, juddering her leg up and down in agitation. "We all have them," she said and JJ felt herself relax. She then made her way over to Emily.

"That was really rude," JJ said as she reached her.

"What?" Emily said whipping her head towards JJ who had sat down in the chair next to hers.

"Treating the Nurse like that, she didn't do anything to you."

Emily ignored JJ's comment about her behaviour and turned her head back around.

JJ let out a frustrated sigh and reasoned that it would be better to talk to Emily about it later when she had calmed down.

They sat in silence as the minutes passed.

"What is taking so freaking long?!" Emily complained.

JJ didn't care to answer, knowing no matter what she said Emily would lash out on her.

"Agent Prentiss?" a woman in a white coat called as she appeared in the hallway.

"Finally!" Emily said and shot to her feet.

"If you could please follow me and we'll get started," the Doctor said and started walking off in a direction.

Emily quickly followed with frustrated steps and left JJ alone, waiting for her friend to complete her examination.

* * *

Twenty minutes later the Doctor JJ recognised as Emily's emerged and walked over to the counter to exchange a few words with the Nurse. As she recognised her, JJ made her way over and cleared her throat.

"How is she?" she asked.

"She is a very uncooperative patient," the Doctor said looking down at her notes clipped to the chart.

"Tell me about it," JJ mumbled.

This made the Doctor break into a smile. "Except for being too stubborn for her own good she is fine and cleared for active duty. She sustained a quite large bruise on her back from the fall and a muscle strain in her shoulder but nothing too severe. The strain isn't a problem and it will be able to heal on its own. I gave her some antibiotics to prevent her from catching anything from the water she swallowed and I hope they will do the trick. As to her old injuries, which she by the way refused to let me examine, I guess there is an explanation?"

Relieved that Emily's injuries were not worse, JJ was able to let out the breath she didn't realise she had been holding. "Yeah she sort of got into a fight..." JJ offered.

"A fight?" the Doctor questioned with raised eyebrows.

JJ was saved from having to come up with a better lie by Emily, stomping her way through the hallway.

"Come on, JJ, we're leaving," she ordered as she walked passed her and grabbed a hold of JJ's arm, dragging her along.

"Emily, slow down!" JJ said and jerked her arm free.

Emily didn't do as she was told yet kept the same pace until she reached the car. Since JJ was the one who had the keys, Emily had no other choice but to wait for her.

A few feet away from the car, JJ decided that Emily had waited long enough and pressed the button to unlock the car. As soon as Emily heard the familiar click, she threw the passenger door open and climbed inside.

JJ walked around the car in a cool manner and took her time fastening the seatbelt. Once safely secured she put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car roared to life and JJ changed gears.

Halfway back to the station neither woman had said a word. JJ thought that it might be for the best if Emily was left alone to deal with her own thoughts for a while.

In the middle of a turn JJ remembered that Hotch had asked her to call after they were done at the hospital, something that had totally slipped JJ's mind. With one hand on the steering wheel she used the other one to pick up her cell from one of her pants pockets. In the corner of her eye, JJ saw that her actions had caught Emily's interest as she registered Emily's eyes trailing the movement of her hand.

Phone in hand, JJ used one of the speed dial buttons to reach him instead of searching trough her contacts. After the fourth ring, he picked up.

"Hotchner," he answered her call.

"Hey, Hotch, it's JJ. I just wanted you to know that we're done at the hospital and on our way back."

"What's the Doctor's verdict?" he wanted to know.

"Fit for duty with some bruising and a banged up shoulder, nothing severe," JJ informed him.

"Good. Though I think it would be good if she take the remaining of the night off. If it's okay with you I would like you to drive her back to the hotel and then come back here on your own?"

"Sure, no problem, Hotch. See you soon!" JJ said and ended the call.

During her conversation JJ had seen how Emily's interest had increased but she wasn't about to tell her anything about what had been said. If she wanted to know what the phone call had been about, she had to actually come out and ask the question. With as much discretion as possible, JJ changed her course to the hotel while mentally preparing for the argument she knew was about to come.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Emily asked as the car came to a halt in the parking lot to the hotel.

"I'm following Hotch's orders. He told me to take you back to the hotel to rest," JJ said.

"I don't need to rest," Emily argued.

"Not my call," JJ said in a calm manner, trying to avoid getting into a fight with the woman.

"Drive me back to the station," Emily ordered.

JJ shot her a glare. "No."

Sensing that JJ wasn't about to do as she liked, Emily tried another tactic. One she usually hated to use but it would be worth it if it worked.

"Come on, JJ. Please!" she pleaded.

"No," JJ said once again.

Emily let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not that hard. Just drive back and tell them that I threatened to shoot you or whatever, just drive!"

"Are you?" JJ questioned.

"What? Threatening you?" Emily said in a uncertain voice.

"Yes," JJ said with a blank face.

"Of course not, JJ! I'm just trying to help you come up with an explanation to why you brought me back to the station."

"Well, I won't need one because that's not gonna happen."

"JJ!" Emily whined.

"No, get out of the car and inside before I use my taser on you and drag you inside myself!" JJ choose to come up with a little unrealistic threat of her own.

"You wouldn't," Emily said as she narrowed her eyes.

"No, that's true but I could call the guys and have them carry you inside," JJ said and this threat she wasn't afraid to fulfill.

"Yeah, right," Emily scoffed.

As she did, JJ once again reached for her phone. Emily watched as she did and then violently pushed the door open and exited the car. She then slammed the door shut with much more force than necessary and started to march off towards the hotel entrance.

JJ just shook her head at her friends stubbornness and began the drive back to the station after she had made sure Emily made it inside.

* * *

She arrived at the station ten minutes later and was met by questioning gazes from her team members.

"She's fine," JJ assured them as soon as she got within hearing distance. "Pissed off, but fine."

All Agents except Morgan seemed happy with her answer and resumed the task they had been preforming before she walked in. Morgan, on the other hand, wanted more answers.

"You're sure she is fine?" he quietly asked JJ.

Knowing that a simple 'yes' would not calm his worries, JJ choose to tell him the long version of the hospital visit.

"She sustained some bruising on her back from the fall and a strained shoulder but according to the Doctor it will heal on its own so she is in no need to revisit. Not much to our surprise, she is a very uncooperative patient and preferred to argue with the Doctor during the whole exam. The Doctor also gave her some antibiotics to prevent her from caching anything from the water she swallowed. On our way to the hospital she sat quiet, which she also did on our way back. When I stopped in front of the hotel she tried to make me drive her here and I had to threaten to call you guys before she finally left the car and stomped away, fuming."

A small smile sneaked up on Morgan's face as he the picture of a fuming Emily, forced to leave the car and stay at the hotel, was created in his mind.

"Thank you," he said gratefully to JJ, thankful for her understanding that he needed more than just a plain 'yes, she is fine'. Even though JJ had reduced his worries for his friend's wellbeing, he decided to check in on her on his own before going to bed later tonight.

"You're welcome," she said and gave his shoulder a light squeeze. "Should we get back to work?"

Morgan nodded his yes.

"So, where do you need me?" JJ asked, looking expectantly at the Profilers working on their respective tasks.

* * *

She walked in to the hotel lobby in her way too big clothes and marched off to her room. If Hotch forced her to take the night off she was going to use it to make herself feel less like a zombie.

The first step in that direction was to take a shower, she could still smell the stench from the pond all over her and she was pretty sure it had nested itself to her hair. It was going to take forever to get rid off. She estimated that she had at least three turns of shampooing ahead of her.

By now she had reached her door and slid the keycard inside the electronic lock. The small lamp turned green which told her she could enter.

Inside she went straight to her go-bag and collected the necessities she needed for her decontamination shower. On her way to the bathroom she picked up one of the white towels laying in the cabinet by her bed.

In the bathroom she stripped out of her borrowed clothes and made a mental note to actually thank the nice Officer who had been kind enough to lend her them. Preferably not when she was as pissed off as she was right now.

With more force then actually needed she slid the shower curtain to the side and entered the shower. She turned on the water after forcing the shower curtain back on its place and shivered as the cold water hit her skin. Thinking that she already had her daily dose of cold water, she turned up the heat.

The shower took almost an hour and she had, as she had predicted, been compelled to shampoo her hair three times but that wasn't to get away with the smell. It had been to get rid of the algae and what else had found its way into her hair. Then she had to shampoo it a fourth time to make the smell go away completely.

Unfortunately, the shower hadn't done a good job with washing away her irritation. Dressed in pyjama shorts and a tank top she emerged from the bathroom with a temper.

She was still annoyed with the fact that Hotch had scolded her for trying to do her job. Fine, she might had ignored a warning she herself had urged others to take seriously. And okay, she had been reckless in doing so but _if_ she hadn't been thrown off the bridge, the UnSub would most likely be dead or in custody right now so it had been worth a try.

She let out a frustrated sigh and massaged her forehead. This whole ordeal had made her headache return and she was in desperate need of a Tylenol. Remembering that she had some left in her bag, she started searching for them but what caught her attention wasn't the pills but her ringing phone laying on the nightstand.

With a almost audible complaint from her muscles she rose from crouching down by her bag on the floor, walked to the nightstand and picked up her ringing phone.

She didn't recognise the number showing on the screen but pressed the answer button anyway.

"Hello?" she answered somewhat hesitant.

"Finally you answer!" an all to familiar voice greeted her on the other side of the line. A voice whose owner Emily felt no desire to talk to.

"You changed your number," Emily stated angrily. She had hoped he wouldn't have come up with that idea but apparently he had.

"And you couldn't sound any happier about it," Dylan snorted sarcastically.

"Well, I had my reasons for blocking your number the first time so I'm sorry I'm not in seventh heaven right now," Emily mouthed off. "What do you want, Dylan?"

"I wanted to see if your black _friend _had talked to you about what we talked about this morning?"

"What? Who? Morgan?" Emily asked in total confusion. Why the hell had her ex called Morgan? And if he had, why had Morgan not hung up on him? Emily vaguely remembered Morgan walking up to her, telling her that he needed to talk to her about something this morning but he never really got the time to do it. Was it Dylan's call he had meant?

"So he hasn't told you," Dylan said in a satisfied tone. "Well, you see we had a little chat this morning about how he should leave you alone. I can't have my girl running off with different guys when I'm not there to satisfy her needs."

Emily didn't even have the energy to answer him. She felt herself loose all kinds of perspective and just let go. She couldn't handle it anymore. She had lost control of her own life and she didn't know what to do with it anymore.

She had tried not to dwell on how Dylan had treated her and move on. That was easier said than done.

She had tried not to make her friends worry about her when she showed up at work bruised and with a bloody lip. No success there.

She had tried to ignore the fact that she had once again fallen for a jerk. She thought she had learned from her mistakes, but apparently not.

She had tried not to think about how much it hurt when she realised Dylan wasn't the person she thought he was. She refused to admit it but it hurt, it hurt a lot.

She had tried to make Dylan disappear from her and her teammates' life by blocking his number and severing all contact. Like she thought that would do the trick.

And now he had nestled his way back in and she felt herself falling apart.

It wasn't a nice feeling, not at all. The protective walls she had built up for herself were starting to come down and as they did, all the emotions she had stored behind those walls were set free.

Her eyes started to tear up as everything became to much. She felt a pressure over her chest and breathing became an effort. Even blinking became exhausting.

Her compartmentalisation skills were failing her and she could do nothing to stop them from doing so.

She felt her throat contract. The hand in which she held her phone lost its ability to grip and the phone slid out of its grasp, down on the bed on which she was sitting on, only to end up on the floor. She vaguely could hear Dylan calling her name through the pulse racing in her ears but she ignored him.

After a while the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat and laboured breathing. He must have hung up, she concluded. Good. Now she had time to think and hopefully time to pull herself together.

All of a sudden she started to laugh, a melancholy laugh lacking any hint of life. Her emotions were a confusing mess and she didn't know how to handle it.

Or maybe she did.

Sitting on the bed, a lifeless laugh having just escaped from within her, she let her eyes to wander the room. Plain, boring walls, a closet, a cupboard, the slightly opened bathroom door and so on.

After surveying it for a minute her eyes sought out the one thing she knew would help her forget. The one thing that had worked so well in the past and wouldn't let her down this time either.

As her eyes locked on it, she started having a mental debate with herself.

She couldn't. No, that wouldn't be right.

Or could she? She had done it before. Never on the job though but technically she was off duty now anyways.

Her mind went from yes to no and then back to yes for quite some time. Then it went blank, settling on only one answer.

Laboriously, she rose from the bed in a slow motion. Standing on her own two feet she started to wandered towards it with exhausted steps.

* * *

_A/N: I think that's my first cliffhanger if I remember it correctly. I guess it's kind of mean leaving you with it like that but I'll do it anyway. Hopefully Santa will look past it and give me some presents despite the fact that I did. Please let me know what you think and tune in next time to find out what caught our dear Emily's interest._

_Merry Christmas everybody! _


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: First of all I would like to say that I'm amazed by how many people find my story worthy enough to follow/favourite! Thank you guys, you make me so happy! _

_Now on to the story._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

He knew the right thing was to give her space but he needed to know she was okay. That was why he was standing outside her hotel room, knocking on her door and hoping that she would open. He knew she was still awake even though it was almost midnight. He could tell by the light streaming out to the hallway from underneath her door.

On his way back to the hotel, he had decided to check up on his partner before going to bed even though JJ had already assured him that Emily was okay. He knew he was being overprotective but he had to see her with his own eyes to believe JJ's words.

He waited for her to open the door but she didn't. When he was left with no answer he decided to knock again, this time with a little more force. Maybe she had gone to bed with the lights on and was already asleep. As soon as the thought came to him, he dismissed it. He was sure she was awake. Maybe she just hadn't heard him the first time he knocked.

He waited some more and after still not getting an answer from the other side of the door, he started to get worried. What if something had happened to her and she couldn't get to the door? What if she had slipped and fallen in the shower? Or if she had accidentally locked herself in the bathroom?

He debated whether or not he should kick the door in but decided that the best option was to knock once more and if she still didn't answer the door, he would break it.

The answer he was waiting for didn't come. He had just backed up a few steps and was about to lift his right foot to kick the door in when it flung open.

"Wha'dya want?"

Morgan took a second to take in her appearance. She slurred her words when she talked and her voice was raspy. The half-empty bottle in her hand and the smell of alcohol when she spoke didn't go unnoticed by him. The black rings under her glassy, bloodshot eyes confirmed his worries for her. Emily Prentiss wasn't fine.

"I want to make sure you're okay," he told her and tried to get a better look into her room.

Looking over her shoulder he spotted a number of empty bottles tossed on the bed. Morgan could only assume that they had contained the same as the one she was holding onto.

"Oh, I'm peachy!" Emily said as she took a gulp of her clear liquid and walked back into her room, leaving the door open.

She began pacing along the wall furthest away from the door as Morgan stepped inside after her. He had taken the open door as an invitation to enter and closed it behind him.

Now he could get a better view of the bottles tossed on her un-slept bed and concluded that they were originally from the mini bar.

They never drank while on the clock so the matter of mini-bars in their hotel rooms had never been discussed. But now Morgan wondered if she had turned to alcohol before. His worries grew as he saw the actual amount of bottles laying there.

"You have been drinking," Morgan said mostly to himself but Emily heard him. His next words were meant to be heard by her as he expressed his worries for her. "You're on antibiotics. You're not supposed mix alcohol and medication. Especially not that much."

His voice had been full of concern while he spoke but Emily only registered the first part of his statement that she had been drinking. When hearing those words, she was immediately railed back to when someone else spoke those exact same words to her only a few days ago.

* * *

_"You have been drinking," Dylan stated with a tone of disgust._

_Emily was taken aback. Since when did he have a problem with alcohol? During their first date, he had been the one insisting they should order a nice bottle of wine to go with the dinner._

_"And I sure as hell hope that's not the dress you wore for your Boss's birthday party!"_

_Emily looked down at her dress and didn't understand what he meant. The dress was covering more skin than most of the dresses out there. It didn't even have visible cleavage which Emily had been careful to make sure it did to cover up the four leaf clover still branded on the left side of her chest._

_"What is wrong with this dress?!" Emily demanded to know._

_He let his eyes wander her body, making Emily uncomfortable, before answering. "Well first of all, it's way too tight to wear in front of your co-workers. And secondly, it makes you look like a whore," Dylan said and threw his arms out._

_"What the hell is wrong with you?! This is the exact same dress I wore on our third date!" Emily screamed as her discomfort transformed to rage._

_"What's wrong with me?! With me?!" Dylan yelled. "I'm not the one dressed like a hoe!"_

_Emily took a small step back at his harsh words. She was fighting so hard not to show him how much his harsh words affected her. Her eyes were burning from unwanted tears threatening to fall and she blinked rapidly to make them vanish. How could she ever think she loved him?_

* * *

Without thinking, Emily projected the anger that had been building up against her ex to Morgan.

Poor Morgan didn't know what effect his words would have on her and was taken aback by her reaction. He was prepared for a small outburst given how she reacted to statements like that in the past but he sure as hell wasn't prepared for what he came to face.

Exactly like before, Emily felt everything slip out of her grasp and she lost control. She tried to maintain her cool but she could practically see it as it slipped away from her. The alcohol in her system hadn't helped her to deal with her unwanted emotions like she had hoped. Unfortunately, it only made it harder for her to keep them at bay.

She was fuming and then exploded. "You're just like him! Tellin' me what to do an' not to do! What's next, huh? Maybe throw a fist at my face? Slam my head against the wall or scream at me that I'm a whore?!"

Morgan, shocked by her sudden outburst, caught himself feeling hurt. Did she really think so low of him that she thought he would do anything like that? Never in his life would he lay a hand on her and it pained him to think that she thought he might. He also realised that she had just described what Dylan had done to her during their fight. He had guessed the bruises on her wrist were Dylan's doing but hearing her blurt it out made his rage towards the man grow. Also the pain he felt for his hurting friend increased and made his heart ache for her.

"Emily, I would _never_ do that," Morgan told her looking into her eyes but she didn't hear him.

She was once again pacing the room and breathing heavily, a little unsteady on her legs from the alcohol in her system.

"Why does it always turn out like this?" Morgan heard her mumble as she stumbled back and forth along the wall.

She emptied the bottle she held in her hand and threw it on the bed. A loud clink could be heard as the bottle joined the bottles laying there.

"It always ends like this. No matter how hard I try, it always backfires."

He watched as her eyes became glassy and it looked like she zoned out. Desperate to bring her back to the present, he searched his brain for the best way to approach her. He could practically hear the wheels turning as he did.

"This is all my fault," Emily slurred.

Morgan's eyebrows knotted in confusion. What was she talking about? What was her fault? He continued to listen to her incomprehensible rambling. He still hadn't come up with a way to approach her.

"I hurt you guys so bad," Emily continued. "But I didn't mean to. I didn't-" she said as a sob wracked her body making her even more unsteady in her pacing. She took a few deep breaths and managed to keep the tears away for now. She was vaguely aware of Morgan's presence and she couldn't break down in front of him. It was bad enough that he had already seen her like this. Why did she even open the door for him? The best thing would have been to turn off the lights earlier so that everyone thought she was asleep.

Morgan hated to admit it, but his partner was having a meltdown. And it was scaring the shit out of him. The question of what she meant was her fault began circulating in his brain but he decided to leave his confusion about what the hell she was talking about for later. Instead he focused on trying to make her come back to the present. He could see she had trouble keeping her gaze focused on him the few times she actually looked his way. The times she did, her stare shifted between him and the wall behind him. Morgan suspected that it would be hard to get her attention but he would keep trying until he got it.

"Emily, we can talk about it," he tried. "Whatever it is you think is your fault, I'm here to listen."

A stop in her pacing and a flicker in her glassy eyes told him he was making some progress. Seconds later she returned to her pacing.

"I don't want to talk," she mumbled.

"I know you don't want to talk but it usually helps," Morgan tried to convince her. He was talking from his own experience. After her supposed death, he had been forced to talk about his feelings regarding it with Hotch. It still angered him that the man had just sat there and listened to him spilling his guts about his guilt and sorrow while knowing that Emily was very much alive. Morgan hadn't completely forgiven him for lying to the team but he had dealt with his anger and knew that it had all been for the safety of his partner.

"No, no, no," Emily shook her head and new tears began burning behind her eyelids. "I don't want to talk. I just want it to go away."

Morgan was afraid she might be starting to get hysterical if he let her continue so he decided to try to physically reach out to her since his words didn't seem to do any major difference. He walked towards her and gently reached out for her pacing form. Once his hand landed on her shoulder, she shrugged it off.

"Don't touch me," she told him and shied away. Her pacing never stopped.

"Emily, I want to talk to you," Morgan pleaded and lightly gripped her elbow, hoping it would make her stop her frantic pacing.

"I said, don't touch me!" Emily snapped.

She felt trapped. She didn't think about what she did next, the only thing she knew was that he was getting closer, trapping her further. She needed for him to give her space.

She put up her hands and pushed him away with as much force as she could muster.

The push had him stumbling backwards a step and unfortunately in that one step he lost his footing. He fell back and crashed into the dresser placed opposite of the bed. As he fell, he reached out for the solid wood object and managed to break the fall before he ended up with his ass on the floor.

Emily watched the consequences of her doing and only then did she register what she actually had done. In shock and shame she backed away from the mess she had created. She collided with the wall and as she did she barely registered the pain from when her bruised back connected with the wall.

What the hell had just happened? Had she really pushed him? Her partner who had never done anything to hurt her? The one person who constantly had her back and always wanted to protect her, even during the times she didn't need protection, which was pretty much all of the time if you asked her. The guilt she felt for her actions filled her drunken persona and she instantly hid her face behind her hands as it overwhelmed her. She never meant to push him, to physically hurt him. She began thinking that she was no better than Dylan who had done the same thing to her.

Then she finally gave in to her emotions and she let herself sink to the floor in uncontrollable sobs, much like she had after her fight with Dylan.

Morgan was stunned by her use of physical violence but didn't think twice about it as he watched his partner crash into the wall and sink down to the floor. The dull ache in his back didn't register in his mind, but he felt every stabbing pain in his heart as he watched the sobs wrack her body.

She began mumbling words of something in the line of I'm sorry and even though Morgan couldn't make out what she was saying, he understood what she meant.

"Hey, Emily, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to," Morgan soothed and straightened up. He then took the few steps separating them and was by her side in no more than two seconds.

Guilt, pain and failure was what she felt. She had actually pushed him when he was just trying to help! The pressure over her chest was back and bile started to rise in her throat. Even in her drunken state she knew she was definitely about to throw up.

Morgan was just about to sit down next to her when she shot up to her feet and raced to the bathroom on wobbly legs.

In her hurry to reach the toilet, she forgot to close the door behind her and as Morgan came running after her he found her hovering over the toilet, violently throwing up. In between her vomiting, he noticed she was still crying and that she was on the verge of hyperventilating as she struggled to inhale between the sobs and the gagging.

"Hey, easy," Morgan coached her as he gathered her hair in his hands and sank down next to her.

"Go away," Emily said and made a lame attempt to push him away.

_Again with the pushing_, Emily thought as another wave of nausea hit her and she was forced to hold her head over the toilet bowl.

"Not gonna happen," Morgan told her in a firm voice and as she started to throw up some more he began rubbing small circles on her back, hoping that it would ease her distress.

They stayed in that position for quite some time, Emily with her head over the toilet and Morgan by her side, until all of Emily's queasiness had gone away. Morgan then gave her some water to rinse her mouth and when she was done, he helped her move from the toilet to lean against the cold bathroom wall. Emily's hysterical crying had by then reduced to small whimpers and Morgan hoped she would be able to talk now, even though he knew she didn't want to.

Emily's forehead was damp with sweat so after giving her the drink, Morgan splashed some water on a small towel and handed it to her before crouching down next to her. From the looks of it, she had started to sober up a bit which was only to his advantage in matter of speaking with her. Her eyes were no longer as glassy as before but the redness in them still remained, now mostly the result of her crying.

He let her have some peace and quiet and made himself as comfortable as possible on the hard floor before he began speaking.

"Emily, talk to me," he pleaded and turned to look at her.

She refused to look at him so he ended up staring at her profile. Her face was paler than usual and the bathroom light made the tears falling down her face glisten.

Finally she answered him, but she still refused to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry," she said in a hoarse voice.

"Don't be," Morgan said. "I tripped over my own damn feet, there was no way that little lame touch of yours would have me crashing into the furniture." Morgan hoped that some teasing would do her good.

Thankfully it did. Upon hearing his teasing words her lips curled into a small smile. She dared to meet his eyes for a brief second before she looked away again.

Morgan managed to catch a glimpse of her smile and knew his joke had had the desired effect. He then decided to try to talk to her about tonight.

"What's going on with you?" Morgan asked in a soft voice, hoping that she would actually answer his question, not just give him some vague reply before dismissing it as she usually did when it came to questions about her emotions.

His question was met by silence and as the minutes ticked by Morgan refused to talk until Emily had said something.

"It hurts," she finally whispered in a small voice.

Morgan got a little surprised by her honest answer but quickly put the initial shock aside. "What hurts?" he gently probed.

"Everything," Emily sighed and tried to wipe away the tears.

She still refused to look at him but at least she was talking now.

"How does it hurt?" Morgan hoped to keep her talking by asking her more questions.

"You sound like a therapist," Emily scoffed.

_Dodging the question,_ Morgan thought and said, "I don't care what I sound like. Emily, how does it hurt?"

Emily sighed and realised that it would be easier to just answer his questions than to avoid them. Since she had decided to open up to him, she finally turned to face him.

Her appearance took him by surprise. He knew she looked more or less like a mess but he wasn't prepared for the emptiness and defeat he saw in her eyes.

"Like... I don't know," Emily said and blew out a breath. "Like... Like something is crawling and aching on the inside," she ended up describing. "It doesn't even make sense," she muttered looking away from Morgan. She was really bad at this shit.

"Sure it does," Morgan argued and tried to regain eye contact with her.

"You're just saying that to be nice," Emily scoffed. She pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them.

"You know me better than to say that, Emily."

"Fine," she mumbled as she rested her head on her knees.

Her tears were still silently flowing and she hated herself for showing such weakness in front of her partner. How was he suppose to believe she was capable of having his back when she couldn't even keep her tears at bay?

"Hey, Emily. Look at me," Morgan begged and nudged the leg she had closest to him.

After taking a few deep breaths she obligated, but not before swiping her hands over her face in an attempt to swipe away the tears.

"How long have you been feeling like this?"

_Talk about a loaded question,_ Emily thought. She didn't even know the answer herself. Sure, she had had her ups and downs since coming back but she thought she had got the bad days under control. That she could handle them by suppressing her feelings and hoping that pretending they didn't exist would do the trick. Apparently that hadn't worked so well as she had hoped for. Her way of dealing with her feelings and had only resulted in them piling up on each other and sooner or later that pile of crap became to much for her to bear, like it had today.

"I don't know for sure," Emily confessed. "I've had my fair share of bad days since returning but I've always managed to deal with them."

"Deal with them or pretend they don't exist?" Morgan questioned, already knowing the answer.

"You would call me out on a lie if I told you the first, right?" Emily uttered and smiled a small smile.

"You bet," Morgan answered, happy to see her smiling even though it was a tiny one.

"Then the latter I guess," Emily spilled.

For a while only silence and Emily's sniffling could be heard in the room.

"You said you've had you fair share of the bad ones but how about the good ones?"

"I've been happy," Emily reassured him.

There was a pause before she continued.

"As a matter of fact, from JJ's and Will's wedding up until this friday the good ones have outnumbered the bad ones. I don't know why everything is coming down on me right now. Seriously, I don't know what the hell I've done wrong in my life but I unmistakably did something to cause this mess!" Emily exclaimed and with a frustrated laugh.

"Maybe all the bad things that are happening right now is karma from my past or maybe it's just as simple as that the universe has a grudge against me, but I surely did something wrong to deserve this shit," Emily remarked and began rubbing her tired and blood-shot eyes.

She then moved on to furiously rubbing her forehead, trying to make the headache go away. She had forgotten about the Tylenol she was about to take when Dylan called her and now she was experiencing the symptoms of a migraine. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves but it didn't work very well. Instead the anger she had felt back then was finding its way back into her system.

Morgan noticed her change of demeanour and was prepared for her outburst.

"And now I'm just angry!" she sighed. "I'm sick of people making the decisions for me, Doyle forcing me to make decisions you shouldn't have to make. I'm angry at Hotch for faking my death and forcing me into hiding. I'm sick of Dylan telling me what to do and not to do. How to dress and how to act!"

Morgan decided that the best thing to do right now was to keep quiet and let her get it out of her system. Sooner or later she would become too exhausted to even speak and then he could tell her what he wanted her to hear, that she was loved and no matter what she had done in her past, she didn't deserve this.

What she told him next made him believe that maybe she already knew all of that.

"When I woke up after Doyle, I was so happy to be alive. Being alive meant I would get to see you guys again, I would get to see Garcia's beautiful smile and hear JJ brag about Henry's successes. Rossi would still be able to teach me how to cook that special pasta dish he had been nagging about for months. And I would get to tease Reid with you," she smiled at the memories of how they use to gang up on Reid. "I would get to follow Hotch's orders and cheer on Jack as he played soccer. And most important of all, I would still be your partner," she said and the small smile she had remained on her face.

He felt his mouth curl into a matching smile as she lovingly described each team member and their relationship. Her description made himself evaluate his own relationship with the team members.

He loved to tease Reid; it was even more fun when Emily joined him. He also found his rambling quite interesting sometimes. And not to mention the strength he had to use to overcome his drug addiction.

He had a tremendous amount of respect for JJ. She was able to balance the extremely difficult task of being a mother to Henry and a wife to Will while at the same time having a successful career. He also thought about the fact that she had been the one to sort through all the open cases and deciding which one to prioritise for years, only to later become a profiler herself. He doubted he would be able to do that.

His thoughts went on to the rest of the team and ended on Emily. That damn stubborn, feisty, adorable, dorky partner of his.

He found himself thinking that he could never ask for a better partner. The seven months after her death had been hell, he had lost both his partner and his best friend at the same time. To be honest, he was still not over it even though he had gotten her back.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her voice. But this time he didn't see the spark in her eyes and love he had seen while she had been talking about the team, now he only saw sorrow and what she said made his heart ache for her.

"Then I noticed the empty room and started to get worried. Where were you? Had he manage to kill you anyway?" Emily paused and pulled her legs closer.

"I started to panic and was about to disconnect all the wires and tubes connected to my body when the door opened. I was thrilled to see Hotch entering the room until he opened his mouth and told me what he had done. He told me how he had faked my death and the reason for none of you being there was because you all thought I was dead. He told me that the only people who knew I was still alive were him, JJ and Clyde."

Morgan felt her retreat into her own bubble and her eyes turned dark as he flashed back to what he could only assume was her time at the hospital.

Her shoulders tensed and her knuckles turned white as she tightened the grip she had around her legs. To Morgan, it looked like she was trying to prevent herself from falling apart.

"I was so angry with him," she started off again. "I remember feeling like I was actually dead. I mean my life pretty much circulated around you guys and the job and if I couldn't have any of that, who were I? I told him to leave the room and I remember catching a glimpse of his expression before I turned to look out the window. His face was a mixture of guilt and compassion, but I didn't want his compassion or for him to feel guilty. I just wanted my life back."

Morgan wanted to say something but he didn't know what. He didn't know how to make her feel better. Fortunately for him, Emily kept talking.

"After that I told the Doctors that I didn't wish to have any visitors for as long as I would be staying there. They respected my wishes but still told me about the times Hotch and JJ came to visit. And the one time Clyde showed up," Emily told him. "I guess it was kind of selfish not to allow them access to my room but I needed some space to sort things out. Things like how to keep an eye on Declan without alerting Ian that I was still alive and so on. I also remember thinking about Sergio. Had someone taken care of him or had he been moved to live at a shelter?"

Emily realised she was rambling but she had never talked about her stay at the hospital and she kind of wanted to get it off her chest. She had even refused to go into detail about her hospitalisation with the therapist she had been forced to talk to after her return. When talking about it with the therapist, she had only briefly touched the subject and given the therapist the answers Emily knew she needed to hear to clear her.

"When I had recovered enough to move to Paris, JJ was the one handing me the necessities. Fake identities, credit cards, you name it. At that time, I hadn't spoken to Hotch since the day I threw him out of my room and I wouldn't until months later," she finished her story in a tired voice.

Morgan didn't know how to reply to her heartbreaking story. He wanted to comfort her but he knew she didn't want his pity. He ended up apologising, for what he wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry," he apologised.

Maybe he was apologising because he hadn't been there for her during those horrible months.

Or maybe he did it because he hadn't gotten to her sooner that day in the warehouse. If he had, they would have thrown Doyle behind bars and Emily wouldn't have been forced into hiding.

Or maybe it was because he hadn't pushed her harder into talking with him, both now and back then. He had known something was bothering her but he still let her be once she refused to open up to him.

"Why are you apologising?" Emily asked as her eyebrows knotted in confusion. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry for not seeing how bad this is making you feel and for not doing anything before, both now and then. I should have pushed you harder into talking about how you were feeling, not just taking you to the shooting range and workouts," Morgan said and admitted what he saw as his failures as a friend.

"You couldn't have known," Emily argued. "I always kept the emotions hidden while around other people, even when alone. I'm the one who should be apologising. I'm sorry for lying to you back then and I'm sorry about tonight."

"We're good," Morgan assured her with a gentle nudge. "I have one question though."

"You can ask me anything right now and I promise to be honest. It's the least you deserve after tonight," Emily said.

Morgan could see this day was taking its toll on her and he was hoping her sleep would be peaceful once she finally got some but he wasn't quite done talking yet. He still had some things he wanted to clear up first. He took a few seconds to decide how to phrase the question but even though he did, he ended up like a rambling idiot.

"What caused you to have- What made you-" he struggled. He couldn't find the right words, no matter how hard he tried.

"What caused me to have this meltdown?" Emily supplied in a collected voice. She had come to terms with her situation now. "You can say it Derek. I had a meltdown."

"Okay, what caused you to have this meltdown?" It still didn't feel right. He hated that he had to ask her the question but he really needed an answer. Lately, the questions regarding Emily had become more and more and now he wanted the answer to at least one of them.

"Dylan called me," Emily supplied.

It was then that Morgan realised he forgot about telling her how Dylan had called him earlier today. He decided to not bring it up right now, she had a lot on her shoulders to deal with as it was right now and she didn't need any more shit piling up on them.

"And I know he called you too," Emily continued. "What did he say?"

Surprised that she knew, Morgan remained silent for a few seconds. "Nothing we can't talk about later."

She continued to surprise him by not demanding a different answer to her question. Instead she answered his.

"After I had answered his call and he started screaming at me, something in me just burst. I don't know how to describe it but I sort of became numb. I started thinking about everything that have gone wrong in the last two years and I feel like whenever I'm trying to do the right thing, it just ends up being the wrong thing," she sighed.

A lonely tear found its way down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away but Morgan still saw it. He chose not to let her see that he had. Instead he assured her that he understood what she meant by wanting to do the right thing but ending up doing the wrong thing.

"Like the chase today," Morgan said.

"Exactly," Emily confirmed, relieved that he understood her.

Her tears kept rolling down her cheeks and she angrily tried to wipe them away. When she didn't succeed, it felt just like another thing she had done wrong. She didn't want to feel this way!

The more tears she wiped away the quicker they fell and after failing over and over again she gave up and let them fall freely. She thought about the last couple of days' events and there it was again, that _feeling_. As she did her silent cry evolved into sobs.

"Shh," Morgan soothed, put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

She wouldn't admit it but she was thankful for his warmth. For a few seconds she forgot about being strong and independent and rested her head in the crook of his neck.

As her sobs increased, Morgan started to run his hand up and down her arm and held her tighter, offering as much comfort as he could. He was surprised Emily even let him hold her, he guessed she had come to the realisation that sometimes you need the support of others to get though your problems.

They stayed in that same position for a long time, Emily safely curled up next to him and Morgan with his strong arms around her, resting his head on top of hers. From time to time he placed a small kiss on it and tried to keep his own tears at bay. Even though he was happy that she let her feelings show, it hurt to hear, see and feel her cry.

The time passed by and as it did, Emily's sobs subsided. He could feel her body relax as she was starting to doze off. He let her keep up for quite some time before deciding it was time to get her in bed. After the day she had had, she didn't need to add falling sleep on the floor of a hotel bathroom and waking up with stiff body to her list.

"Come on, Baby. It's time for you to go to bed," he gently told her as he started to shift her into a position from which he would be able to lift her.

He gently scoped the almost sleeping Emily up, one hand behind her back and the other one at her knees. As he did, she began to stir but quickly settled in and nestled her head closer to his neck.

Morgan made sure not to disturb her further as carefully carried her to the bed. When he reached it, he tenderly placed her on top of it next to the empty bottles. A clinking sound could be heard as he moved them off the bed and pulled off the covers.

He then gingerly rolled her over to where he had removed the covers and tucked her in. A few strains of hair had ended up in her face because of the movement. With a soft touch he brushed them away before he bid her good night.

"Sleep tight, Princess," he whispered and caressed her head one last time before he started walking towards the door.

As he was about to reach for the door handle, he halted his movements. A soft sound had made him stop, he turned to the bed and saw Emily's mouth moving.

"Thank you," a sleepy Emily mumbled from her spot in bed.

Seconds later he could hear a steady breathing coming form her and he smiled as he realised she had fallen asleep._ Good_, he thought. That is exactly what she needs.

Morgan turned back around and was once again facing the door. He reached out for the door handle for the second time that evening and pushed down. He then walked out of her room across the hallway and into his own. When he left her room, he did it feeling little bit more comfortable now that he knew where his partner's mind was at. After this whole ordeal he felt like he understood her the complicated woman known as Emily Prentiss a little bit better and therefore had a better chance of easing the pain he knew she was in. Maybe she wasn't okay at the moment but he vowed that he would be there for her during the progress of one day becoming okay.

* * *

_A/N: Aaaand there you have it. It turned out as a very long chapter but I hope you didn't get bored. As to Emily's little meltdown, I just felt like she needed to have some sort of breakdown because I don't think anyone can handle as much crap as she has without losing it at some point. I hope you guys agree with me and that you won't hunt me down because I sent our heroine down a dark path. Don't forget to tell me your thoughts, I always enjoy hearing from you!_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hi readers! Have you noticed my typos, grammatical errors, etc. isn't as many as they were before? Well, that's because I have this amazing typo finder that helps me out. If it wasn't for her, there would be a few quite funny typos hiding in the chapters. Anyways, let's begin where we left off, shall we?_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

She woke up with a killer headache and almost no memory of the night before.

Emily groaned as she reached out to silence the alarm using her uninjured arm and then let herself fall back on the bed. The bed she vaguely remembered Morgan had carried her to after they had spent some time in the bathroom.

The bathroom. What the hell had they been doing in the bathroom?

As she asked herself that question, her memory came crashing back.

She had cried her eyes out.

And puked her guts up.

And Morgan had been there helping her, comforting her, trying to make her talk about what had made her reach for the first bottle and then the next one and then the next.

The aftermath of her drinking was now making itself present. Her head pounded and her mouth felt and tasted like a desert. Her eyes stung from tiredness and behind them was a dull ache she suspected came from the headache.

As she lay in bed, feeling like she had been run over twice, more bits and pieces of her memory started to come back to her in fuzzy flashes.

The mini-bar. Now she knew where she had gotten the booze from. The bill was going to be a bitch.

The pain. It had been both physical and emotional. She tried to recall what had caused her the physical pain but that piece of memory was still sort of foggy. The emotional she had no problem remembering but she chose not to think about it.

The next glimpse of last night was one of Morgan knocking on her door. She didn't remember opening it for him but she guessed she must have since he had been sitting with her in the bathroom. Also the fact that her hotel door was still intact led her to that conclusion.

A fight? Her next flash only caused her confusion as she was trying to interpret it. After letting her slightly intoxicated brain work with it for a while, the puzzle piece fell into place.

She had pushed Morgan! Crap! Shit!

She felt embarrassment burning her face and pulled the duvet over her head.

She had freaking used physical violence on her partner because she wanted space. Friggin' space!

More of her memory was coming back to her and she remembered of how they had sat in the bathroom and talked. She remembered how supportive he had been, no judgement or pity in his eyes, only empathy and concern. Because he had handled the situation like he had, she felt even worse for behaving like she had.

Emily kept her face hidden under the duvet and kept reliving how she had gotten herself into deep shit.

A memory of her mouthing off to Hotch after she had been scolded for dismissing an order created an unease in her stomach. That combined with her hangover had her making a beeline for the bathroom.

She emptied the small amount of stomach content she had left and kept her head over the toilet bowl as her body was wracked with dry heaves. Tears burned in her eyes and her throat stung. She was so done with throwing up!

She was just about to get up from kneeling on the floor when something caught her attention. Among her vomit there was blood. Great, she had reopened her bleeding ulcer.

Frozen at her spot on the floor she debated whether or not she should go to the hospital. Last time she had been there, they had told her to lay off the coffee and avoid stronger liquids until it had healed. Also, spicy food had been a big no-no.

She decided to quit coffee and stay away from alcohol for at least two weeks. It had worked before so why wouldn't it this time. She also made a mental note not to never get downright drunk again. She already had enough problems as it was, she didn't need a bleeding ulcer to add to the list.

Satisfied that she had made a decision, Emily heaved herself up and fell down again as her injured shoulder gave out. Crap! The Doctor said it was nothing serious but it sill hurt like a bitch. She made another attempt at getting up and made sure not to put too much weight on the shitty shoulder.

This time she made it and once she was standing upright she took a steading hold on the sink as her world began to spin. How the heck was she suppose to cover up the fact that she had a hangover when she can't even stand up straight?!

She stood in that position, hands gripping the sink, until she thought she had it under control. That was when she looked up at the mirror and met her own reflection.

She looked like crap. The dark circles under her eyes were what you only could describe as pitch black. Not to mention her eyes, they were red rimmed and unfocused.

As she inspected her eyes, she was happy that she kept a bottle of eyedrops in her go bag. It wouldn't solve the problem but it would make it less prominent.

The bruise wasn't as visible as it had been since it was now starting to turn yellow. Emily guessed that with the help of some make-up it would be almost as if it wasn't there.

Her hair was another problem though. It was a mess. Raven strands were pointing in all directions and tangles could be found pretty much everywhere, the worst ones at the back of her head. Emily knew she was going to spend a lot of time with her hairbrush to even begin to make it look anything less than a rat's nest.

She made her way out of the bathroom to check the time and to pop a few pills before moving on to the task of making herself presentable.

Six thirty, the clock read. That meant she had more or less an hour to take care of the mess also known as Emily Prentiss. After swallowing the pills dry her eyes locked on her phone. She was then reminded of what had her reach for the booze in the first place, Dylan had called her.

She unlocked her phone and was surprised when she didn't find any missed calls or unread messages from him. How come he had been so eager to reach her last night that he had changed his number but now, when he could actually reach her, he hasn't made any attempt to do so since yesterday?

Even though it made her utterly confused, Emily settled on being thankful that he had decided to leave her alone for the moment. She made sure to block his new number too and once she had, she put the phone down on the unmade bed.

It was with a big burden she made herself walk the way to the bathroom for the second time since she woke up that day to begin her transformation from a zombie to an, almost, human being.

* * *

It had been half an hour since he woke up, memories of last night fresh in mind.

He thought he created a new record in making himself ready for work this morning. He was hoping to catch Hotch before leaving and maybe have a little talk with him.

Showered, shaved and dressed he emerged from his room and entered the corridor. He walked the hallway and scanned the diner, looking for Hotch and found him sitting at a table eating his breakfast.

Morgan moved to join him and ordered some scrambled eggs and bacon on his way over.

"You mind if I sit?" Morgan asked as he reached Hotch's table.

"Not at all," Hotch answered and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I was wondering if you might have a minute to talk?" Morgan began.

"About.." Hotch trailed off.

"Emily."

"Something happened?" Hotch asked, his voice expressing concern.

He knew Emily had had a couple of rough days lately and he had felt bad for yelling at her yesterday but he had no choice but to do so. She behaved recklessly and ignored orders. No matter how much he had wanted to go easy on her, he couldn't.

Just as Morgan was about to start, the waitress arrived with his food and placed it in front of him. He thanked her and waited for her to leave before he began to speak.

"I went by her room last night after getting back to the hotel, just to check up on her."

"Mhm," Hotch voiced and nodded his understanding.

"When I got there she was kind of..." Morgan stopped talking as he tried to think of a better word than drunk. "Kind of a mess," he settled with.

"How do you mean?"

Morgan debated how to best inform his Boss about Emily's breakdown without getting her into unnecessary trouble. He had no doubt that she would be hungover today which would make everyone understand she had been drinking yesterday. Morgan reasoned that it would be more kind to her if he gave Hotch a heads up and by that hopefully spared her some of Hotch's rage.

"She had been drinking," Morgan made a short pause.

"She had-" Hotch began but Morgan cut him off.

"Just let me finish," Morgan interrupted and held up his hand. "Dylan called her last night and I guess that's when it all came to her. You and I both know Emily refuses to deal with things, especially emotions. She thinks she's the master of compartmentalisation and refuses to let us see her vulnerability. I think yesterday was the day it all became to much for her and she didn't know what to do."

Morgan tried to give Hotch a picture of the situation without revealing too much of what Emily had told him. She had told him in confidence after all.

From the look on his face, Hotch was understanding. Morgan knew he was disappointed in her for her behaviour but his features had softened.

"Hotch, I'm not asking you to ignore what she did because I know you have to talk to her about it. It was reckless and stupid and she needs to know that," he paused and tried to read Hotch's face for some kind of reaction. He came up empty handed so he decided to keep talking.

"But I am asking you to go easy on her. I know having a couple of bad days isn't an excuse but I think she's in a place where she can't handle much more right now," Morgan said, hoping that Hotch would understand.

"I hear you, Morgan, and I will take that into consideration when I talk to her but it's inevitable. As you said, I can't ignore it," Hotch said with a stern face.

"Thank you," Morgan breathed and began eating his breakfast. He could live with that.

* * *

The rest of the team soon joined them, except for Emily who was still trying to make herself presentable for the rest of the world inside her room.

Reid arrived first, then JJ and Rossi at pretty much the same time.

They gathered around one table and once they had Hotch decided, after consulting with Morgan, that it was for the best to tell the rest of the team about Emily's state the night before. He gave them the same version of the story he had heard from Morgan minutes ago.

"Is she okay?" Reid questioned, worry etched in his voice.

"As for today I don't know but last night before I went back to my room she was doing okay," Morgan answered. "We talked some and I think it helped."

"I know you guys are worried but Morgan and I think we'll just make it worse if we're watching over her like hawks and smothering her with questions," Hotch told them. "Keep an watchful eye on her but give her some space."

The others nodded their understanding.

"And for God's sake, don't tell Garcia just yet!" Hotch added as he realised what would happen if the Technical Analyst found out.

The people seated around the table laughed lightly at the picture of the hell that would break loose if Garcia found out about Emily's meltdown.

They finished up their breakfast and was just standing to leave when a raspy voice caught their attention.

"I guess that means I'm late for breakfast," Emily stated, standing a few tables away from their own.

The team members quickly scanned her appearance and concluded that she did look pretty much as they had expected her to. Her damp, dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and the dark circles under her eyes were nothing new. She had on a pair of dark slacks and a long sleeved shirt, covering the bruises on her wrists. The cut on her lip had a scab and the bruise on her jaw was hard to notice if you didn't know it was there.

They could see that the bright light was bugging her eyes and they all guessed she had a pretty nasty headache from a blow to the head combined with her hangover.

"You can always order take-away," Morgan suggested which made the corner of her lips turn upwards.

"Come on, I'll stand in line with you," he said and waved for her to join him. "I'm guessing you guys would like some coffee to go?" he continued, turing to the gathering rooted by the table.

Noises and gestures of confirmation told him that he had guessed right.

"I'll get the usual," Morgan replied and started walking towards the line. "You coming?" Morgan asked and looked over his shoulder at Emily.

"I'm coming," Emily replied and started making her way towards him with careful steps.

As Emily and Morgan walked the short distance to the line, the rest of the team started to move towards the waiting cars outside on the parking lot.

It hurt her head to walk so she tried to minimise the pain by walking slowly with careful steps and it seemed to do the trick. The pills she had taken hadn't kicked in yet, hopefully coffee and food would help minimise the pain. Shit! Not coffee, decaf she realised.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked her in a low voice once they had reached the line.

Emily was once again filled with an enormous guilt for her behaviour last night and she turned away from him, looking out the window.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, still refusing to meet Morgan's eyes. "I didn't mean to push you, I just need some space," she tried to explain.

"Hey, I get it," Morgan informed her and placed a hand on her arm, trying to make her turn to face him.

She obligated and spun around.

"I'm not mad at you," he continued. "Or maybe I am, a little, but not for pushing me. I'm pissed that you don't feel like you can trust us enough to tell us when you're not feeling well," Morgan told her in a soft voice.

"I'm sorry," Emily said once again, not sure what else to say.

"Just promise me one thing okay, Sugar?"

Emily smiled at his usage of yet another one of his famous nicknames.

"Next time you're feeling like you want to drown your sorrows in Smirnoff or whatever you got your hand on last night, please come talk to me first," he pleaded.

"I promise," Emily told him and held his gaze.

"Good," Morgan said.

That was when her stomach decided to join the conversation.

"I think someone's in desperate need of food," Morgan chuckled.

"I guess," Emily smiled. "Thank you for last night." She realised she hadn't thanked him properly for last night and felt the need to.

"No need to thank me, you already did," Morgan said referring to last night when she had said her thanks while being two seconds away from falling into her sleep induced coma. "And I would do it again," he said and flung his arm around her shoulders.

"I know you would," Emily smiled. She ignored the dull ache the action caused her injured shoulder and put her arm around his waist, giving him a sideways hug.

* * *

They had arrived to the station at approximately eight o'clock and it was now two am. They had made Reid and JJ run for lunch and had ended up filling their stomachs with Chinese.

Since last night they had some new material to work with. Rossi and JJ had been sent to interview the girl who could currently at the hospital, recovering from the ordeal without any complications.

The girl had told them that she hadn't gotten a good look at the kidnappers face but she thought he smelled fresh, like he had recently taken a shower. Unfortunately that didn't help them much, pretty much everyone of their suspect could get access to a shower one way or another.

What was different about this kidnapping contrary to the others was that the girl told them she had been snatched on her way walking home from a friend's house.

In all the other kidnappings the victims had been taken from remote locations where the risk of their UnSub getting caught was low. Something had made him bolder and they needed to figure out what.

They devoted the rest of the day to discussing the matter and was surprised when they didn't hear anything about a new kidnapping. Because of the UnSub's escalation, they had counted on having another victim the next day, but they never got one.

At the end of the day when Hotch noticed that everyone was getting tired he decided it was time to call it a night. He ordered the team to go home but asked Emily if she could stay for a minute.

Emily had a pretty good guess of why he wanted her to stay and had been surprised this morning when he hadn't called her out on being hungover. She assumed Morgan had something to do with the fact.

Hotch asked Rossi to close the door after himself when he left the conference room and as he did, Hotch sat down opposite Emily by the table but he didn't say a word.

"I'm guessing you want to talk to me about yesterday?" Emily said and started wringing her hands. Hotch had been quiet for quite some time and she was starting to get nervous.

"Morgan told me you had it a bit rough," Hotch told her.

"How much do you know?" Emily feared to ask him the question but she had to.

She kept her gaze locked on the table in front on her as she asked the question. Arriving to the station, she had been surprised he even let her work today.

"I know you made some decisions I don't approve of and I know what caused you to make them," Hotch spoke in a collected tone.

Emily kept quiet and waited for him to begin yelling at her but he never did.

"Emily." She looked up as he used her first name. "I thought we made a deal that you would tell me when you were having a bad day."

To her, he sounded almost hurt. Like he felt betrayed when she had decided to turn to the bottle instead of talking to him. She realised she would be too if she had offered to help one of them but they choose not to.

"I didn't want to bother you," she mumbled. It was a lame excuse and she knew it, the truth was she hadn't wanted to talk about it.

"You wouldn't be bothering me, Emily. I would be happy to listen to you and try to help you. What I'm not happy about is how you're treating yourself. Stop thinking that you don't deserve to be happy or thinking that you're weak because you're feeling bad. The feelings won't go away even if you pretend they do, trust me I know," Hotch revealed. "If you don't talk about them, they will only get worse and then it will end up like it did yesterday. Or maybe even worse."

He stopped talking and locked eyes with her.

"I'm here as your friend right now, Emily, and not as your boss. Because if I had been you would have been ordered to stay away from this case and to take some time off to straighten everything out. But as I friend I know it would only make things worse for you, so I'm going to let you stay on this case if you promise to talk to me when you think you don't need to. Or talk to Morgan, or JJ or someone else, but you have to talk to someone because you can't keep everything bottled up on the inside. If you do, it will all become too much and at some point, it will be extremely hard to recover from."

When he was met with no response he spoke again. "Do you hear what I'm saying?"

During the time Emily had been sitting and listening to him talking, the lump in her throat had grown bigger and the tears in her eyes had come close to escaping.

She had been an idiot yesterday thinking that she would bother them with her problems. She was causing them more pain by pushing them away than she would have if she had just talked to them. She made a promise to try to be more open towards the team, even though she knew it wouldn't be easy.

Emily then made an attempt to clear her throat but realised she got a rather lame result as she heard her own voice when answering him.

"I hear you," she replied hoarsely and was met with an unusual small smile.

"Good. Then I think it's time for us to get back to the hotel and get some sleep," Hotch said and rose from the chair.

Emily followed suit, still in a minor state of shock over how Hotch had treated her disaster. She had expected screaming and shouting, maybe even to get suspended but in no way had she expected this.

She remained quiet all the back back to the hotel as Hotch drove. She only spoke to wish him a good nights sleep while she stepped out of the car.

She made it back to her hotel room and stopped once she had walked through the door.

On the floor lay the empty bottles from last night. Determined to get rid of them as quickly as possible, she grabbed a plastic bag from the cabinet and threw them inside. She then flung her door open and marched off with the bag in her hand to the dumpster on the other side of the street.

Once she had deposed of it, she turned around and walked back to her room where she went straight to bed.

* * *

They assembled at the station the next day. After gulping down some coffee, they went right on to business and began where they left off the night before.

After going straight at it for about two hours and coming up with nothing new, Morgan threw his file at the table.

"We're stuck," he said frustrated with their lack of progress.

He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

"Maybe we should call Garcia and ask her if she's having better luck with the tape then we are with this," Rossi suggested.

Everyone agreed on what sounded like a good idea and listened as the signals rang.

"_Speak and be heard, Mere Mortals!" _Garcia answered as she picked up.

"Hi Pen!" JJ greeted as it was her phone they were using to make the call. "You're on speaker."

"_Oh, but I was hoping I could tell you about this really awesome thing Kevin and I discovered last night when we-"_

"I think it would be best for everyone if you stopped talking right there," Rossi informed her.

"_Don't be such a party pooper!" _Garcia whined. _"If you could just keep your minds open and listen to what I have to say for a few minutes then-"_

"My mind is as closed as it can get" Rossi interrupted her.

"_Well, Wise Man, I will respect your wishes and talk about something else then," _Garcia said, agreeing to Rossi's terms.

"How about the tape we sent you?" Hotch suggested. "Have you made any progress?"

"_The tape," _Garcia repeated. _"Yes, I've made some progress but I don't think it will help you very much when it comes to catching this Man of Explosives you see, 'cause that's the only thing I can tell you. That it is a man's voice talking on the tape" _Garcia clarified. _ "And that, my Sparkly Friends, you already know."_

"Sparkly friends?" Reid muttered in confusion.

As Morgan heard him, he just shook his head signalling that he should just let it go. Sometimes Garcia was just Garcia. She said things lacking a reasonable explanation, like now for example.

The two agent's focus shifted back to the conversation in time to hear Emily ask a question.

"How about the sounds in the background?" she questioned.

"_Those, my Raven-haired Warrior, don't exist. I'm sorry to disappoint you but I've tried everything. All types of hocus-pocus I could come up with but I still got nothing. I took away the voice and then tried to isolate any other noise that I thought might be present and ended up with nada, ziltch, niet. Your guy must have been recording it in some cellar or a sound proof room because I can't find squat," _Garcia declared with a frustrated sigh.

"Too bad," Emily joined in on Garcia's frustration. "Thanks though."

"_My pleasure!" _Garcia quipped. _"If that's all for now, I will once again get on to the task of scrutinising every single nanosecond of this tape and hopefully I'll find something I missed the first three times around."_

"That's all for now," Hotch informed her.

"_If that's the case then, bye. And stay safe, Dear Crime Fighters!" _

The call disconnected and the room fell silent.

"Well, that didn't help us much," Rossi was the first one to acknowledge.

"Tell me about it," JJ murmured.

"We can still go over the girl's statement from yesterday one more time," Morgan proposed, looking around the table at his colleagues. "Or we could try doing a cognitive interview with you," he said focusing on Emily. "You may have seen more of the UnSub than you know."

Everyone turned their attention to Emily, curious about what her answer would be.

"I doubt it would give us anything but we can try."

"You want me to do it or do you prefer someone else?" Morgan asked.

"You'll do fine."

Morgan rose from his chair. "Let's get on with it then."

Emily was just about to follow suit when the door to the conference room flung open and Detective Moore interrupted them for the second time in three days. He breathed heavily what the agents guessed was from hurrying to tell them something.

"He's got another one," the Detective finally manage to squeeze out between his laboured breaths.

"Show us," Hotch ordered in a stern voice.

"Guys, bring it over here!" the Detective yelled, turning his head out the door towards the sea of desks.

Two men quickly rose from their respective chair and made their way over to the conference room. Both men were strangers to the agents and Emily found herself wondering where the twins had gone.

"Here you go," one of the men said and handed over everything he had in his hand to Detective Moore.

"Thank you," he replied as he took the envelope from his subordinate.

The Detective then walked up the the table and pulled out its contents on the table. A map, a photo and a voice recorder landed on the surface.

Reid reached out for the map and began unfolding it. Once he was done, he carefully place it on the table on top of the other things laying there.

The gathering leaned forward to study it and everyone noted the red circle marking a specific area.

"What's in this area?" Reid asked the Detective and pointed at the encircled area.

Moore reached out for the map and turned it around so that he could get a better look. "Lots of woods and some acres. It's an old farming community. They had to shut the whole thing down after a few years 'cause nobody had the time to drive all the way out there to get a few potatoes that you could buy at the local supermarket. A lot easier and a lot less time consuming."

"So, it's isolated and people rarely visits. Sounds like our guy," Rossi commented.

Reid grabbed the map and went to put it up next to the other once and also drew a circle on the map which he had drawn all the other marked areas. While trying to come up with a geographical profile, he had also marked the preliminary and secondary crime scenes that they knew of with red pins.

After marking the new area, he took a step back and studied the map trying to see a pattern. To Reid, it looked just as random as before. Disappointed, he returned back to the others now calling Garcia to have her run the photo through facial recognition trying to secure a name to the boy in the picture.

"He's getting bolder," JJ observed as she took the picture in her hands. "Now he's kidnapping young boys in broad daylight."

"Should we listen to the tape?" Morgan directed his question to Hotch who just had returned from finish talking to Garcia.

Hotch nodded his answer. "Play it."

At fist, they were only met with silence but the a voice started talking.

"_Congratulations! You won the last round! How does it feel? I guess you feel pretty good about yourselves right now since you failed to get to the other one in time."_ It was a slight pause where everything and everyone fell quiet once again. Seconds later, the voice was back.

"_I hope you've manage to get dry by now, Agent Prentiss," _the voice said in mocked concern. _"Anyway, sorry for taking so long to continue our game but I had some things I had to take care of first. Like the fact that you created a hole in my arm, Emily. It kinda hurt."_

Everyone around the table looked at Emily.

"_I would advice you guys not to mess with her. She may look harmless but I have to tell you, she has one hell of an aim even when she is falling from a bridge," _the UnSub said and chuckled lightly. _"I'd hate to see what she can do while having both feet on the ground."_

A slight pause then the voice was back. _"Now back to the game. I needed this round to be perfect so it took me a while to find someone who could fit that little criteria. I have to say I'm pretty proud of what I've come up with. Let's not waste any more time, we all know how delicate that is during these circumstances,"_ the voice mocked. _"Let the new round begin."_

The team was just about to start talking, thinking that the tape was finished when the voice returned.

"_Oh, I almost forgot! Emily, you will be expecting a call very soon."_

An abrupt click let everyone know that the recording had stopped for real this time.

"What the hell was that at the end?" Morgan asked, confusion written all over his features.

"I don't know but I bet we're about to find out soon," Hotch answered. "I want this tape sent to Garcia immediately."

He was interrupted by his phone ringing. He stepped away from the table to take the call, leaving the rest of the team and Detective Moore to ponder over the recording.

Everyone sat quiet, lost in their own thoughts, and waited for Hotch to return to the table. He did a few minutes later, phone still in his hand.

"The boy's name is Danny Bentley and it appears that he was taken from a playground near his home while out playing with a friend. His dad is a single parent after the boy's mother died three years ago. From what Garcia could dig up, the mother's death wasn't ruled a suspicious one. The father Joshua was the one to file the report along with the parents of Danny's friend after the friend ran home crying that Danny was gone," Hotch informed the others.

No one made a attempt to talk since they all knew Hotch wasn't done yet.

"JJ, I want you and Rossi to handle the interviews. Reid, you keep working on putting together a geographical profile. Prentiss, you're staying here waiting for that alleged phone call to come and when it does, have Garcia out a trace on it. Morgan, you are driving out to have a look at the primary and Detective Moore, I would appreciate if you could help me dig up as much information about the boy and his family as you can," Hotch distributed his orders.

"Sure," the Detective answered him.

"We're on it!" Morgan said and started walking towards the door, closely followed by JJ and Rossi.

As the Morgan, JJ and Rossi left the room, the others started working in their respective tasks.

Reid walked straight up to the maps and a concentrated frown was immediately placed of his otherwise smooth forehead.

Hotch and the Detective settled down at a desk outside the room having a computer on it. Emily saw Hotch pick up his phone and dialling a number which she guessed was Garcia's. She got her suspicions confirmed moments later when the fax machine started spitting out papers and Hotch went to fetch them.

She brought her focus back to her on task, waiting for the phone to ring as the UnSub had said it would. She made a quick call to Garcia borrowing Reid's phone, telling her to put a trace on the next incoming call to her phone. When Garcia asked why, Emily told her that the UnSub had said Emily should expect a call in the nearest future. Of course Garcia started rambling about what she thought of their latest Man of Evils and Emily only listened to half of what she said.

With Garcia talking non-stop in her ear, Emily let her eyes wander the table. There, on the far end of it lay the photo of the kidnapped boy. The photo in which Emily had yet not gotten a chance to look at. She reached out for it and brought it to her. Before turning it around so she could see the image, she told Garcia she had to hang up and waiting to do so until she heard Garcia say her goodbyes. Emily answered with a simple 'bye' and then hung up. Her concentration was on something else.

She had flipped the photo around and the minute she laid eyes on it, she saw the resemblance. The blond locks and the piercing blue eyes made her almost believe it was him. But it wasn't.

The photo was a picture of a four year old boy named Danny Bentley. A four year old boy who looked almost exactly like Declan had all those years ago.

* * *

_A/N: There you have it. Chapter 10. I can't believe we've made it this far. I'll be back with more later on and while you wait, you can always let me know what you think of the story :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: It's me again! I'm here with the next installment so all you have to do is lean back, relax and enjoy._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

Her phone rang twenty minutes after they had finished listening to the tape.

Emily, who had had her eyes glued to the photo this whole time, jerked as her ringtone sounded through the constant murmur at the station. She had been lost in her own thoughts about how it had to be a coincidence that the missing boy looked so much like Declan, nobody except the team and a few of her contacts knew about him.

Before answering, she called for Hotch who was still working with Detective Moore outside the conference room.

Upon hearing Emily's voice and seeing her gesture towards her phone, Hotch realised their expected call had come though. He hurried over to the conference room and made it just in time to see Emily press the answer button.

She had put the call on speaker so that everyone could listen in.

"_Hello?" _

That didn't sound like the voice of their UnSub, it sounded more like the voice of their victim. Eyes met in the room. They had all been expecting the UnSub to call, not his victim.

"Hi, Sweetie," Emily said once the initial shock had subsided.

"_The bad man said I should ask you to come an' get me," _the boy told her. _"I don't like it here. Can you please come an' get me?"_

Emily's heart began to ache for him. "I know you don't like it there, Honey. We're going to do our best to find you and then we're gonna bring you home to your daddy. But for us to do that, you're gonna have to help us out a little. Okay?"

"'_Kay."_

"Good," Emily encouraged the boy they suspected was Danny. "Could you please tell me your name?"

"_Danny Gilbert Bentley," _the boy said with a hint of proudness from being able to tell Emily his full name.

An approvable nod came from Hotch as Emily manage to establish that it was indeed the boy from the photo they were talking to.

"Well okay then, Danny Gilbert Bentley, I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them the best you can. It's okay if you don't know the answer, just think of it like a little quiz," Emily said. "Can you do that for me?"

"_I can do that," _Danny stated. _"But I don't know your name, it's only fair that I get to know yours if you got to know mine."_

Emily had a small smile tugging at her lips as she told Danny her name. "My name is Emily Prentiss and I'm a cop. I work with the FBI. Do you know what that means?"

"_Mhmm, you make the bad guys go away," _Danny summoned up.

"That's right."

"_I like your name," _the boy let her know. _"It's pretty."_

All of the Agents smiled at the innocent child on the other end of the line. A child who didn't deserve what life had thrown at him.

"Thank you, Sweetie! I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I like yours too. Though, I think I'm might gonna start calling you Danny-Boy," Emily tried to make the boy feel better during the circumstances by lighting up the mood.

A small giggle filled the room as the boy found her nickname amusing.

"_That's funny."_

"It is, huh?" Emily smiled. "Well, Danny-Boy, are you ready to answer my questions?"

"_Yes, Em'ly," _Danny said, failing to pronounce her name correctly. Emily was used to it, small kids often ditched the i in it since it sounded pretty much the same with or without it.

"Okay, so the first question is; Is the bad man that took you with you right now?"

"_Nope."_

"Good," Emily replied and felt the tension in the room drop a notch.

She tried to decide which questions she should ask Danny in which order. After a few seconds she made up her mind about the next question.

"Are you hurt?"

"_The bad man made my cheek bleed and my hand-ankles are hurting."_

Emily felt bad for the hurting boy but she still had a smile tugging at the lips from his adorable made-up word for wrists.

"That's not very nice," she said. "Why are your wrists hurting?"

"_My what? I don't know that word..."_

"Oh, sorry! I meant your hand-ankles, why are your hand-ankles hurting?" Emily said, realising that it would be easier to use the boy's own word instead of trying to explain it.

"_They are tied to my chair," _Danny told her. _"I want to go home Em'ly!"_

He sounded like he was of the verge of crying and Emily couldn't help but to feel for the boy.

Hotch had stepped away from the table where her phone lay and he was now talking to Garcia, trying to establish how the trace of the phone call was going.

"I know and I'll make sure you'll be back home soon," Emily assured the boy. "I just need you to answer a few more questions for me."

"_You promise?" _

Emily had never been a big fan of promises, but now she couldn't help but to promise the boy that she would bring him back to his daddy. No matter what it took, she would make sure that sweet, innocent, little boy would be home safe by the end of the day.

"I promise," Emily vowed and prayed to whatever God that would listen that she would be able to keep her promise.

"'_Kay, you can ask me your next question now."_

Emily decided to try to get to boy to give her as much information about his surroundings. "What do you see when you look around?"

"_I see hay and walls. And it smells bad," _Danny added. _"It looks like the place where you keep horses."_

"That's great, Danny-Boy!" Emily encouraged the boy and turned to Reid who was still struggling with the map.

"He's in a stable or something similar," Emily told Reid and watched as he ran his slim finger over the most recent map, trying to locate a possible building.

"_Who are you talkin' to?" _Danny questioned.

"I'm talking to my colleague Dr. Reid," Emily answered his question.

"_What's a col-aeg-ue?" _Danny asked, struggling with the word.

"Colleague," Emily voiced it for him. "It's a person you work with."

"_But I thought you were a cop?" _

"I am," Emily replied.

"_Then how can you work with a Doctor?" _Danny asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Emily smiled at the boy's logic. "He is another kind of Doctor, not the one that takes care of you when you've been hurt," she tried to explain.

"_Then what kind of Doctor is he?" _the questions never stopped popping out of the small one.

"He's very, very smart and knows a lot of things. Maybe you can meet him after we've helped you out of that scary place and then you can ask him for yourself. Does that sound like a plan?"

"_Mhmm," _the boy eagerly answered and Emily could almost see his head bobbing up and down.

"_But I want to meet you too."_

"I'm sure we can make that happen," Emily said to the boy, happy that he wanted to meet her. To be honest, she also felt a desire to meet this boy full of questions she had been talking to for a while now.

"Okay, so I have a few more questions. Do you think you can handle a few more?" Emily asked.

"_Yeah, your questions are easy."_

Emily chuckled lightly and asked him her next question.

* * *

The hours went by as they continued the search for the missing boy. JJ and Rossi had returned from interviewing the families and were now sitting in the conference room. Moments after they had returned, Morgan and Hotch had emerged through the door.

After his arrival, Hotch had been briefed about what Emily had gotten from the kid so far and then he had ordered her to stay on the phone with Danny and to keep trying to get as much information as possible of where he might be. In order to do so, without getting disturbed by the rest of the team in their search for the missing boy, Hotch had suggested that Emily should move to an unoccupied interrogation room.

The information Emily had gathered so far wasn't much. Danny had told her that he thought he was in a stable. He hadn't been able to hear anything, no cars, no water, no nothing which told Emily and the other profilers that he was being kept in a remote place, just like the other victims had been. Danny described it as being scary quiet.

The man first approached Danny when he went to fetch a plastic shovel and a bucket so that he could build a sand castle with his friend. The man had handed Danny a bucket and as the boy was about to reach for the shovel in the man's hand, he had found himself getting snatched up and a cloth had been held over his nose and mouth. After that, Danny had told Emily that everything got dark and then when he woke up, the bad man was strapping him to a chair using tape.

Danny had then moved on to telling Emily about how the man had hit him on his cheek and then pressed a knife to it, drawing blood. He then told her how the man had left him alone and said that he would get to talk to someone soon as he placed a phone on the floor next to the chair. He told her how surprise he had gotten when the phone started a call without him touching it.

When Danny told her about this horrible experience, he had been scared and at the verge of crying. Emily had done her best to comfort him and after a few calming words and a promise that she would bring him home to his daddy, the boy had calmed down and moved on to telling her about the weird looking thing placed next to the chair.

After asking him a few questions about the weird looking thing's appearance, Emily had concluded that it was a bomb. Fortunately for them, Danny had been able to read the numbers on the timer connected to the bomb. It gave them a precise deadline to work with.

Minutes passed. Emily could hear the boy was getting restless from sitting in the same position for so long.

"_Can we play another game now?"_ Danny begged.

Emily doubted she would come up with any more questions regarding his location and settled on letting him decide what to do next. When Hotch had told her stay on the phone he had also added that she should do her best in trying to keep the boy on the line, even if it meant not asking questions. Ever since the call had gotten throught to Emily's phone, Garcia had worked on trying to trace the origin of it. She had hit a lot of walls while doing that but as long as the caller was active, she got a step closer to locating it.

"Sure, Buddy. What do you want to play?" Emily asked. She kept the call on the line as she quickly sent a text to Hotch writing down what she had come up with. Also stating that she doubted she would be getting much more out of him.

"_I want to sing!"_ the boy exclaimed. _"Do you know how to sing?" _

She got a message back saying that she should keep the boy on the line, even if he wouldn't be of much more help.

"Yeah, I do," Emily replied. She didn't think of herself as a very good singer but neither was she tone deaf. One little children's song wouldn't hurt.

"_What songs do you know?"_

"Well, I know a lot of songs. If you say one you want to sing, I'll tell you if I know it," Emily suggested.

"_I want to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," _Danny informed her.

"Then Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star it is," Emily agreed.

"_Okay, I start then you sing along,"_ Danny decided.

"Okay."

"_Twinkle, Twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are," _Danny began singing.

"Up above the worlds so high, like a diamond in the sky," Emily sang along in a soft voice as Danny kept going.

The melody kept filling the room and when the song was finished, Danny complimented her singing.

"_You sing nice," _he said.

"Well, thank you," Emily smiled. "You sing nice too. And better, I didn't know all the words."

In the middle of the song, Emily had tried to remember the rest of the words but had failed miserably. Danny had kept singing and once he had gotten to a part where she knew the lyrics, she had jumped right in.

"_It's okay. At first I didn't know them either, but my daddy helped me practice. You just have to practice and then you'll know," _Danny coached.

Danny was clearly very smart for a boy his age, Emily concluded. "I'll just have to do that."

The line went quiet for a few seconds before the boy voiced his thoughts once again.

"_My friend knows how to sing it in Spanish. Can you sing it in some other language?"_

"I can sing it in Spanish too," Emily told him. "And in Arabic, Italian, French and Russian."

Even though she didn't remember the whole song in English, she did remember it in Spanish and French. As for the Italian, Russian and Arabic version, she only remembered the first verse.

"_Oh, I want to hear!" _the boy spoke loudly in excitement.

"Okay, okay," Emily chuckled. "Which one do you want to hear? I don't know the whole song in Italian, Russian or Arabic but I do know it in French and Spanish."

The boy was silent for a few seconds as he contemplated the question. _"I want to hear it in French," _he finally decided.

"Okey Dokey," Emily cheered.

On the other end of the line, Danny laughed. _"You're funny."_

As Emily began singing, she was oblivious to the fact that JJ was standing outside the one-sided mirror, watching her friend interact with the missing boy.

JJ's eyes never left her relaxed friend as Emily sang to the boy in French. For the umpteenth time, JJ found herself thinking that Emily would be a great mother if she ever decided to have children.

The moment was interrupted when Reid flung the door to the room open in a hurry.

"I know where he's at!" he called out and ran back the same way as he had come.

* * *

As soon as Reid had figured out where the boy was being held, the team had rushed to the cars and driven off. Emily had refused to hang up on the boy and when he had started asking questions about the noise, Emily had told him that they were coming to get him so that they could bring him home to his daddy.

The ride to the crime scene had been in high speed and fifteen minutes in, Emily had lost contact with the boy much to her despair. Because of the crappy service, the line had died and Emily was left with an unsettling silence on the other end of the line.

Thankfully, it didn't take long before the cars stopped in front of the barn with screaming tires and blaring sirens. Everyone jumped out of the cars, geared up in bulletproof vests, and started to move. Hotch had made them do a weapons check on their way to the scene and now they had all holstered the weapons to their hips, Reid of course had his unique place where he liked to put it.

"I want group D to search the perimeter!" Hotch ordered as soon as the rescue team had assembled at a safe distant from the barn about to explode.

"Last time we were at one of his crime scenes, our UnSub was enjoying the show. If he's here right now, I want him cuffed and brought in," he said, looking around, making sure everybody understood the seriousness of the situation. "And remember, if you find him, don't execute the takedown on your own. This UnSub is very dangerous and I don't want any unnecessary casualties."

Group D, consisting of men and women from the local police station, began teaming up and spreading out to follow his orders. Hotch waved for his own team to follow him.

They moved over to a spot where they wouldn't be in the bomb techs' way, those who were currently creating a barrier between the police force and the barn.

"Prentiss, how long ago did you lose contact with the boy?" Hotch questioned.

"No more than five minutes," Emily answered.

"And what time did he say the timer was on then?"

"Twenty two minutes," she replied quickly.

Hotch nodded at her answer. "You guys, stay here and I'll go talk to the man in charge of the bomb squad," Hotch told them and walked off.

The remaining agents gazed at the barn in which they knew the boy was in.

"I can't believe they let two four-year-olds go to the park all by themselves, even if it was a park close by their house!" JJ commented as she looked at the barn.

"Well, some people are just not meant to be parents," Morgan sighed and ran a frustrated palm over his face. He hated cases involving children.

"I just wish that parents would keep an better eye on their children. If they did, stuff like this wouldn't happen as often as it does," JJ said and rubbed her forehead.

Emily only listened with half an ear to JJ and Morgan's conversation as she watched Hotch walk over to a man standing behind the now built up barrier talking to some other men next to him. From the looks of it, Hotch was about to interrupt a rather serious discussion. Emily had hoped to be able to read Hotch face when he was talking to the man in charge but her hopes were crushed when he stopped with his back to her. Realising she had no chance of doing so with him standing like that, Emily turned her gaze to the barn.

Inside that rectangle of wood and metal was the boy who she had kept a conversation with for the last five hours. The sweet little boy who had happily sung Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with her when she had tried to keep him entertained. The innocent boy full of questions, many of them who would be left unanswered if they didn't save him. The boy who deserves to experience so much more than he has. The boy deserves to explore the world and maybe then a few of his million questions will be answered.

_This can't be his last minutes on earth,_ Emily thought._ No, I won't let it be!_

Right then and there, Emily decided to do everything in her power to save that sweet, innocent little boy.

* * *

After what felt like a small eternity for Emily, Hotch returned to the gathering. His face was looking grim and Emily suspected she wasn't about to like what he had to tell them.

"They're not going inside," Hotch informed as he reached them.

"Why the hell not?!" Emily couldn't believe it. How could they _not_ go inside?

From the looks on the other Agents' faces, Emily wasn't alone with her confusion.

"They don't think they have enough time to first sweep the place, looking for any more bombs, and then move on to the task of defusing the bomb that we know of," Hotch explained.

"How long time do they think it will take? I've defused a bomb in less than three minutes and I don't even have the training for it!" Emily pressed on.

For a few seconds, she flashed back to that specific day.

* * *

_She was running inside the building and that was when she spotted him. Against a metal fence was Will, sitting with a bomb strapped to his chest. Emily remembered how she had only thought of JJ and Henry. She hadn't been able to get the image of JJ's desperate attempt to stop Will from walking inside the bank to accommodate the robbers' wishes out of her head. That had been when she realised the chance of saving Will's life was more important than getting herself out of the building and to safety. Thankfully, she had managed to defuse the bomb without causing neither hers or Will's death and they had all made it home in one piece to attend his and JJ's wedding._

* * *

"I don't know what to say, Emily. They told me there is no way they're going in since there's so little time left until the bomb goes off," Hotch sighed.

"So we're just gonna stand here and wait for him to get blown to pieces?!" Emily ranted off.

"We don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice," Emily muttered as she eyes sought out the barn.

* * *

After her argument with Hotch, Emily discreetly backed away form the group. Once she understood that Hotch wasn't about to give in, a plan had started to form in her head.

When she had distanced herself enough for her to be out of their sight, she spurred into action.

The first thing she did was to check the time by using her phone. 3:47 pm it read. According to what Danny had told her before the line died, that left her with twelve minutes before the bomb would explode. Twelve minutes to get inside the barn, free the boy of his restrains, pick him up and run back out.

She could do it, Emily convinced herself. She had to do it.

Danny had told her his arms and legs were tied to the chair with tape which meant that she needed something to cut him free.

Emily scanned the area and spotted one of their black SUVs. Form what she remembered, there was a first aid kit laying in the trunk of each of those cars containing a pair of scissors.

She raced over to the car and jerked open the trunk. Just as she remembered, a small kit of first aid equipment was laying there. She rapidly roamed through it and found the scissors after her hand had collided with various things, things that had probably left some marks.

Scissors in hand, she ran over to the barrier the bomb squad and police had sat up. It was made of fences easy to move. Nobody suspected that any one of the people at the scene would be crazy enough to cross the barrier and therefor they hadn't made it any more complicated than it had to be.

Before making a run for it, she picked up her phone, wrote a short message, pressed send and left her phone by the barrier. She didn't want it to distract her while she was carrying out her plan.

She stepped in front of the barrier and allowed herself to take one last glance back before she began to run.

Her feet pounded the sandy ground and behind her she could hear her actions had been acknowledged.

Upset voices and confused hollering was her background noise as her breathing became heavier. She found herself hoping that the name FBI printed in block letters on her vest would keep them from shooting at her.

She felt the muscles in her legs protesting but she kept going. She had one goal and that was to reach the barn without a bullet going through her.

Emily threw herself against the door using her unharmed shoulder as she reached it and thanked her lucky star as it flew open.

Dust filled the room and she coughed. She only stopped to locate the blond boy tied to the chair and once she had, she sprinted towards him.

"Hey, Buddy," Emily managed to get out between laboured breaths. "You're gonna be okay."

The boy recognised her voice and his faith in her was restored. When the line had died, Danny thought she had hung up on him and that she had left him to whatever was awaiting him. Now, he couldn't help but smile at her as she spoke to him.

"Em'ly!" Danny squealed in delight.

"That's right, Danny-Boy," Emily smiled as she cut the tape off his arms and legs.

"You came!"

"Of course I did. I promised, didn't I?" Emily said.

Seconds later, she had cut through the tape and began reaching out for the boy.

"Time to go!" she stated as she wrapped her arms around his small body.

She gave the timer one last look before running off. Three minutes! Would she be able to get out of the barn and put enough distance between it and them for them to survive? She certainly hoped so.

"You're hair smells nice," Danny informed her in a unsteady voice, snuggling closer, as he bumped up and down in her arms while she ran.

Emily felt bad for not thanking him for the compliment but she reasoned she would make it up to him by getting them out if this mess alive.

She doubted she had ever ran as fast as she did right now. When she had cut the tape off the boy, she had noticed a backdoor hanging ajar. She had then estimated the distance between the chair and the two doors before decided that the backdoor was closer.

Once she reached the door, she turned slightly, hoping she would protect Danny from the impact by doing so. What she didn't think of was that she turned her banged up shoulder towards the door.

When she crashed through it she got hit by a shock of pain but Danny didn't complain about any pain so she took it as a win.

They were now out of the barn and her mission was to put as much distance between it and them. Not caring about her burning muscles, she accelerated her pace.

She had made it about six more yards before she felt herself getting thrown to the ground by a massive force.

* * *

A few minutes after Morgan had listened to his parter arguing with their boss, Morgan heard the familiar sound of his phone informing him that he had received a new message.

He looked at the screen and saw it was a message from Emily. Why would she be sending him a message?

A frown was put on his face as he unlocked the phone and read it. _'I'm sorry.' _it simply read.

What did she mean by that? What was she sorry for?

Looking up from his phone, he found the others were just as confused as he was.

"Why is Emily telling me she's sorry?" Reid questioned.

"I got the exact same text," JJ informed them.

"We all did," Rossi concluded.

Everyone looked from one profiler to another, trying to come up with an explanation to why Emily would be sending them a message telling them she was sorry.

Screaming and shouting could be heard from the crowd of men and women standing behind the barrier and the thought of what was going on crossed the profilers' minds.

"_We got movement on the scene,"_ one of the men radioed in.

The teams heads snapped sideways towards the barn. There they could see a person running towards the barn and could vaguely make out the familiar block letters FBI printed in white on the front of the vest.

"Damn!" Morgan swore as he realised who it was. He made a move to run after her but was stopped by four pair of hands.

As Morgan swore, the puzzle piece fell into place for the others. The apologising message immediately made sense. The running figure was Emily.

"Morgan, don't!" Hotch ordered.

Morgan tried to break free but didn't succeed.

"But she's going to get herself killed!" Morgan screamed in defeat.

"I won't have two Agents running towards a ticking bomb," Hotch said in a firm voice and locked eyes with Morgan.

Reluctant to do so, Morgan stopped struggling. After some time the team let go of him.

"What the hell is she thinking?!" Morgan ran his hands over his head in frustration.

"Declan," Reid mumbled.

Morgan shook his head. "What the heck are you talking about?!" Morgan asked in a frustrated tone.

"I think she sees Declan in Danny and we all know she would do anything to protect that boy," Reid explained.

"But he's not Declan," Morgan argued.

"I know but I don't think it matters. When she saw the image of Danny, he most likely reminded her of Declan and then add the fact that she has been talking to him non-stop for almost five hours and it's not that hard to understand that she has created a bond with him. When Hotch told her the bomb techs wouldn't be going in, she probably decided to take it upon her own to get the boy out."

"She's reached the barn," JJ informed them, having kept an watchful eye on her dark haired friend.

The rest of the team turned to the barn and looked at it with apprehension.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then everything happened at once.

The barn lit up in a flash and a penetrating noise erupted. The roof of the barn flew to the sky and the walls caught on fire. Screaming and orders erupted.

The people surrounding them started to move but the team stood rooted. No one had seen Emily leave the barn before it exploded. No one knew if she had made it out alive or if she had been caught up in the explosion and ended up in the hands of Death.

* * *

_A/N: Wonder what will happen next? Tune in next time to find out ;)_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: First of all I would like to thank you so much for the nice and helpful reviews! They always make me smile and motivates me to keep writing._

_Okay, so chapter 12. Let's see how deep in shit Emily is with Hotch. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't have lost her again. He just got her back!

He ran his hands over his head and down his face as he struggled with his emotions. He was furious at her for taking off like that. And at the same time he was so scared that he had lost her, again. He was angry with himself for not predicting her move before it was too late.

The roller coaster his emotions had taken a trip on made an abrupt stop as his phone started ringing.

"_Derek, I just got the weirdest text from Emily saying she is sorry. What's going on over there?" _Garcia's worried voice reached his ear as he answered his phone.

In the background on Morgan's side of the line, a small chaos could be heard. As Garcia picked up on the background noises she became even more worried.

"She just did something really stupid," Morgan said between clenched teeth. "I gotta have to call you back, Baby Girl," Morgan told her as he thought he saw something moving in the smoke.

He hung up and narrowed his eyes to get a better look. He was starting to think his mind was playing a trick on him when he saw it again. This time he was sure of it, something had moved next to the burning building.

Morgan quickly sprung into action and started running towards the moving object.

The rest of the team stood rooted to their spots, watching as yet another agent of the team raced towards the barn.

Reid was the second person to detect the movement among the smoke. He, too, narrowed his eyes to get a better look and then saw a limping figure emerging from the smoke. Reid thought the figure's arms looked weird and after running some anatomy references in his head, he realised the figure was cradling something to its chest.

"Hotch, look!" Reid shouted in a high pitch voice and pointed towards the limping figure which Morgan was currently racing to reach.

It took Hotch approximately fifteen seconds to realise what he was looking at and then everyone started to take actions. "I need paramedics over here!" Hotch screamed as he followed Morgan in a fast paced run.

The rest of the team also set off in a sprint towards the burning barn and the most likely injured figure.

* * *

Her ears rung and her body ached. She felt a stinging sensation on her arms and legs and realised she must have small, fresh cuts on them caused by the explosion. Her eyes watered as the smoke reached her and she coughed to make it escape her lungs. Beneath her, something started to move. That was when she remembered why she had ended up in this situation in the first place.

She quickly rolled off the small body trapped underneath her own and scanned it for injuries. Danny didn't appear to have suffered any severe injuries and Emily concluded that her attempt to shield the boy from the explosion, by using her own body as cover for the boy, had been successful.

On her way to the ground, she had tried to shift Danny into a position where he would end up beneath her, but wouldn't get crushed by her weight. She had landed on her elbows on her way down and as soon as she had landed, she had put her hands over the boy's ears in hopes that it would spare him the same ringing and pain she was suffering right now.

Even though she couldn't detect any new injuries done to the boy, she felt the urge to ask him just to be absolutely sure she hadn't missed anything. When she made her first attempt to speak, her voice failed her and nothing but a strained, uninterpretable sound escaped her lips.

She coughed and cleared her throat before trying once again. This time she had greater success. "Are you hurt, Danny?"

The smoke annoyed the small one's eyes and silent tears ran down his sooted cheeks as he answered her question. "Only a little."

"Okay. We need to move away from here as quick as possible then you can tell me where it hurts," Emily said while the thought about a second blast kept running through her mind. She had no idea what had been inside the barn when the bomb went off and therefore had no clue to if the first blast was it or if a second one was to come.

She attempted to stand up and when she did, her world started spinning. The weight she put on her sore legs while standing up made the ache in them increase. Even though she didn't appreciate the pain, she welcomed it. The fact that she _could _put weight on her legs most likely meant that nothing was broken.

Her balance was still slightly off and she had to wait until she had regained it before she bent down to pick up the boy. With the boy safely secured in her arms, Emily surveyed their surroundings.

To her left was the burning barn, or what was left of it. Turning to her right, she could see nothing but trees and branches. That wasn't the direction she wished to travel in so she continued to spin around. As she did, her eyes locked on the flashing lights of blue and red. She started to move in that direction as she suspected it was where the others were.

As she got closer to the colourful lights, small dots appeared in front of her. Small dots that was frantically moving around. She tried to blink them away but when she didn't succeed, she was confused at first and feared that she might faint but she didn't feel like she was about to. Then she realised that it must be people moving around.

She then thought she heard some faint screaming but her hearing wasn't as good as it usually was. Not only had the explosion left her with an annoying ringing in her ears, it had also made her feel like she had cotton in them, blocking the sound's way to her eardrum. Although the ringing in her ears had decreased by now, the sensation of cotton in them still remained.

After a few slow and rather painful steps, Emily thought she could detect a familiar form coming towards her. The form came closer and closer and after a while, Emily saw it was her partner who was running towards her with a pained expression.

* * *

Morgan was the first one to reach her and when he did, he was both relieved and terrified.

A quick look told him she looked like she was okay, except for some occasional lacerations and scratches, but Morgan knew looks can be deceiving.

It was what she held in her arms that made his pride for her grow. In some miraculous way, she had managed to get the little boy out of the barn before the place blew up.

The boy had burrowed his head in the crook of her neck and held on to Emily with a steel grip.

"He needs a medic," Emily coughed.

Hotch made it just in time to hear her statement. "Medics are on their way," he told her as he tried to catch his breath.

Emily just nodded and tightened the hold she had around the boy.

"You okay?" Morgan asked and stepped towards Emily.

"I'm fine," Emily said but her attention was immediately shifted to the arriving paramedics.

"You need to check him thoroughly!" Emily urged the first medic that reached them. Her voice was raspy and the smoke had made her throat sore but she didn't care.

"He needs to go to a hospital," Emily kept telling the paramedic. "He was just involved in an explosion. The cut on his cheek is pretty deep but I don't know if he has sustained any other injuries besides that one."

A pair of gloved hands had to pry away the boy from her arms and as soon as Danny left the safety of her grasp, he started crying.

As one pair of gloved hands removed the boy from her, another took a firm grip on her shoulders and started to steer her towards the awaiting ambulance.

"Get off of me!" Emily said and shrugged his hands away.

In less than two seconds Emily was by Danny's side, taking him from the paramedic's arms into her own.

The man who had tried to check Emily for any injuries was just about to go after her when a 'don't' from Hotch made him stay put.

"I need you to be a good boy and let these nice men check you for any boo-boos," Emily told Danny in a gentle voice as she stroked the boy's hair.

"They will take you over there," she said, pointing at the parked ambulance. The boy's tear streaked face turned to where she was pointing and then settled back to rest against her chest.

"And I'll be over there, talking to my friends," Emily continued to inform the boy and gestured towards the spot where the whole team, except for her, was standing. "As soon as I'm done talking to them, I'll come to you. You think that will work?"

Danny nodded his yes and as he did, his soft hair tickled Emily's face. Glad that she had been able to talk the boy into go with the paramedics, she smiled.

"Okay, now I'm going to give you to this young man who I have no doubt got a few exciting stories to tell you while he makes sure that you're okay," Emily said and gestured for the medic to get closer.

He had been kind enough to take a step back while Emily made her best attempt to talk the boy into going with him. When he caught on to her gesture, he quickly made his way over to them.

"There you go," Emily voiced as she transferred the boy form her arms into the waiting ones of the paramedic. "Now remember what I said, be a good boy to the nice paramedic and I'll come to you as soon as I'm done here."

"Promise?" Danny asked in a small, raspy voice.

"I promise," Emily assured him with a smile.

She watched for a few seconds as the boy was carried towards the waiting ambulance before turning around and limping back to the team waiting.

"You're going to let the paramedics check you too," was the first words that met her as she made her way back.

"I'm fine," Emily argued. "It's just a few scrapes and cuts."

"That's an order," Hotch announced in a his firmest Boss-voice.

"Fine," Emily sighed and started limping off to the second waiting ambulance.

Hotch followed suit but not before sending the other agents a look that made it clear he wanted some time alone to talk to Emily.

Fulfilling his wishes, JJ, Reid, Rossi and Morgan stayed put, even though Morgan wanted nothing more than to watch over Emily while the paramedic worked on her. After the week she had had, he wanted to make sure she was truly okay.

Having that urge, he realised it had become almost a daily feeling since they started working this case. He was acting like the overprotecting big brother towards her but who could blame him. Only two days ago, he had to comfort her on the bathroom floor because she had received a phone call from her ex. Not to mention that it was also the same day as she took off in a reckless chase of a very dangerous UnSub. But that's not all, she had also been abused by her boyfriend, or ex boyfriend, before she even started working on the case.

Having all the facts lined up in front of him, Morgan thought he had a right to act like he did and to feel what he was feeling.

* * *

At the ambulance, Emily reluctantly leaned against the back of the opened vehicle. As soon as she was seated, the medic was at her side but she swatted him away. She could see and knew that Hotch had followed her because he wanted to talk to her.

"Just spit it out, Hotch," Emily urged him after seconds had passed without him saying anything.

"What were you thinking?" he began, having trouble controlling his anger. "I thought we talked about this yesterday! How you were suppose to talk to someone before making irrational decisions, such as running inside a barn holding a bomb about to explode. I know I said I would keep you on the case yesterday but now–"

"What if it had been Jack in there?" Emily cut him off, determined to make him listen to her side of the story.

Hotch was confused. What did Jack have to do with any of this? "It wasn't," he retorted with a stern face while trying to keep the confusion from showing.

"But it was somebody's Jack," Emily said in a calm voice.

She never let go of his eyes as she talked. "How could I, after spending so much time with Danny on the phone, not do my best to save him? How am I suppose to stand in front of his father, the father of a single son, look him in the eye and tell him that we did everything in our power to save his son but it wasn't enough, knowing I could have done more?" she paused to take a breath. "That doesn't work for me, Hotch. And if that means disobeying orders and risking my life and job, then so be it!"

Emily's eyes held a glow of determination Hotch hadn't seen in them for days. Once Emily Prentiss had an opinion she wasn't about to back down. She stood by her actions and her reasons behind them and decided to live with the consequences of her doing.

Much to Emily's surprise, Hotch didn't argue with her. He simply stood there, looking at her with a strict face before turning to the paramedic. "Make sure you check her thoroughly," Hotch instructed. "If she gives you any trouble, call for me and I will personally hold her down."

The look he gave Emily before walking away wasn't hard to understand. It told her no arguing, no fighting and no _'I'm fine'_.

Deciding that she had pushed his limits enough today, Emily settled on letting the paramedic do his job without arguing to much.

* * *

Morgan watch as Hotch walked away from the ambulance towards Detective Moore who was struggling to keep up the processing of the scene.

Deciding that Hotch had had his fair share of privacy with Emily to discuss things, Morgan walked over to her.

When he reached her, he found her in an argument with the paramedic.

"I would like to take her to the hospital but she's refusing," the paramedic told Morgan in an annoyed tone as he reached the ambulance Emily was seated in. "She could have suffered a concussion and some serious damage could have been done to her ears due to the blast."

Unfortunately for the paramedic, Hotch had only order Emily to let him check her. Not to comply to a ride to the nearest hospital, which Emily used as an argument.

"I don't need to go to the hospital," Emily argued the paramedic's words. "You've already made sure I'm in one piece right here," she gestured to where she was seated.

"If anyone here suffered any serious damage to his ears it's you," Emily then muttered in a voice so low that only Morgan heard what she said.

Shaking his head at her comment, Morgan took it upon himself to talk Emily into obeying the medic's orders.

"You just told the other medic, the one who is treating Danny, that the kid needed to go to a hospital because he was involved in an explosion and if I remember it correctly, so were you," Morgan acknowledged in a firm voice.

"But he's tiny," Emily responded. "I'm not. I can handle it."

"Oh, I have no doubt you can handle it," Morgan agreed. "But your pretty tiny too, which means you're going to the hospital. No arguing."

Morgan watched as Emily opened her mouth to vocalise her disagreement but he quickly cut her off. "I said no arguing. If you don't do as I say, I will make sure you're not allowed to work in the field for the remaining time we spend on this case."

"And how would you managed to pull that off?" Emily questioned with raised eyebrows.

"I have this friend that is pretty good with computers. I bet she could alter you medical records and the Doctor's approval for field duty before you can say some weird word in one of those languages you know."

Morgan knew he had her the second he saw her face pale a shade and she clamped her mouth shut.

"Fine!" Emily sighed in defeat. "But I'm riding with Danny."

Her gaze moved to the little boy in the other ambulance, smiling at something the paramedic told him.

"Deal," Morgan settled. "You go over there and I'll tell Hotch where we're going."

"We? I thought Danny and I were the only ones in need of medical attention," Emily frowned and started surveying the scene for more injured people.

"We as in you, Danny and I," Morgan told her and watched as her frown deepend.

"Did you seriously think you could get away that easily? Agreeing to go to the hospital only to never really let a Doctor take a look at you while you're there? I thought you were smarter than that," he winked and smiled at her guilty expression. "I'm gonna personally escort you from the ambulance to the examination room and once you're in there, I'm gonna stand guard to make sure you don't escape."

"Damn you, Agent Morgan, for being so foreseeing," Emily muttered as she started to rise.

Morgan watched as she limped over to the other ambulance and stayed long enough to catch a glimpse of the wide smile that spread across her face as the boy landed in her arms after he had flung himself at her.

* * *

"Now you play nice with the Doctor while I check up on Danny and sees if he is up for an interview," Morgan urged Emily as he walked her to an examination room. "According to JJ, his father should be here now."

Emily kept walking beside him without answering him. She was irritated because she was being treated like a child, according to her. According to Morgan, he was helping a very stubborn friend to make sure she was not in as good of a health given the situation.

Morgan ignored her behaviour and kept talking. "Don't forget the list of injuries signed by the Doctor before you leave."

He held up his hands as she directed her annoyed stare to him. "Hotch's orders," Morgan reported.

By now, they had reached the room. "Remember to be polite," Morgan pointed out to her back as she opened the door and slammed it shut.

"Geez," Morgan commented at the slam that echoed through the otherwise quiet hallway.

He started his journey to Danny's room and had come about halfway when his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He fetched it and as he studied the caller ID, he knew he was in big trouble.

"I'm really sorry, Mama. I totally forgot about calling you back," he answered as placed the phone to his ear.

"_You're sorry?! You said you would call me back half an hour ago!" _Garcia shrieked. _"Nice try there, Chocolate God of Thunder, but I need more before I can accept your apology."_

"We were at a scene and things started to go south," Morgan began to explain.

"_Go south? What do you mean, started to go south?!" _Garcia's panicked voice reached his ear.

A message for Doctor Samuels to get to operation room three emerged from the speakers placed all around the hospital and Morgan was just about to explain when Garcia once again started talking.

"_What was that? It sounded like somebody was calling for a Doctor. Where are you? Oh my God, you're at a hospital! Why are you at a hospital? Who's hurt?!" _Garcia fired off her questions in a rapid motion, leaving no time for Morgan to answer them.

"Calm down, Doll Face," Morgan said. "It was a message for a Doctor to get to a special OR and yes, I'm at a hospital. The reason I'm here is because my partner made a very irrational decision to run inside a barn that was about to blow up because she wanted to save a little boy."

"_Oh my God!" _

"Don't worry!" Morgan quickly tried to ease her worries. "She got them out in time. She's okay. Still standing on her own two feet and picking fights with everyone wearing a name tag that can be traced back to an occupation involving medicine."

"_Oh, I'm so mad at her for doing that! Doesn't she understand she could've died? What if the bomb had gone off before she got out of there? Then both her and that sweet boy would be dead!"_

"I know where your coming from," Morgan told her. "Trust me, I've had those exact same thoughts flowing around in my brain for the last half an hour."

"_I'm calling her."_

"I would hold that thought for at least another fifteen minutes if I were you. She's in with the Doctor right now and we don't need her to use your phone call as in excuse to get out of there."

"_You're right," _Garcia agreed. _"As always, Hot Stuff. I guess you have something important to do now so I'll hang up. Take care and don't let our Raven Warrior get herself into more trouble than she already has."_

"I'll try. Bye, Sweetness," Morgan said and hung up.

He then put his phone back in his pocket and walked to Danny's room where he later started the interview.

* * *

She had just finished buttoning the last button of her shirt when her phone rang. Fearing it might be Dylan, she was reluctant to pick it up from where it was laying on the examination table.

She hesitantly picked it up and was relived when she saw Garcia's face lightening up the screen.

"Hey, Penelope," Emily greeted.

"_Don't you just hey me, Emily Valerie Prentiss! Not after I had to find out through Derek that you almost got blown to pieces less than an hour ago because you decided to play big bad hero!" _

Emily cringed at Garcia's outburst and found herself almost wishing it had been Dylan who called.

"_You wont get away that easily. I've already buried you once and I'm not doing it again. Do you hear me?!" _Garcia shirked in a high pitched voice.

"I hear you," Emily confirmed as she held the phone a few inches away form her ear. "I'm sorry."

"_I'll just have to forgive you because I hate staying mad at you but if you ever pull another stunt like that, I'm going to unleash a very unpleasant virus on your computer and everything else electronic you have in your possession. Am I clear?"_

"Crystal," Emily assured her.

"_Good, now that we have that cleared up, let's talk about your heroic act. How is my heroine and the little, pretty boy?"_

"I'm fine, a few scratches and a sore throat from inhaling the smoke but otherwise peachy," Emily made a short pause. "As for Danny, he had sustained a few cuts before the explosion as a result of our UnSub's desire to carve into human flesh but otherwise I made a pretty good job at shielding his body from the explosion with my own."

Garcia kept asking her all types of questions for the next ten minutes and when she was satisfied with her answers, she decided to leave Emily alone.

"_And no more stupid stunts on your behalf, remember?"_

"Or else I will have problems with my computer," Emily answered, recalling Garcia's threat.

"_Problem is only the beginning of what you would have to face if I unleash this mighty beast," _Garcia said in a smug tune.

"I think I've got the point," Emily chuckled. "Bye, Pen!"

"_Bye, my Fearless Raven Haired Superwoman!"_

The smile on Emily's face remained as she placed her phone in her pocket and reached for her holster containing her gun. She had just began the task of strapping it to her waistband when a knock on the door caught her attention.

"Come in," she called, still focused on the holster.

"I was told I could find an Agent Emily Prentiss in here," a unfamiliar man's voice could be heard from the door.

"That's me," Emily answered and spun around meeting the unknown, yet familiar, blue eyes of the stranger.

It wasn't the eye colour itself that Emily thought looked familiar, it was more like what they radiated. The kindness and the warmth that the eyes held reminded Emily of the one she had seen in Danny's.

As Emily met the eyes of the stranger, she felt something that she shouldn't feel. Especially not now when her life was so complicated with Dylan and everything.

Gazing into the man's eyes she felt _the spark_. That instant attraction that draws you to another human being. The almost magnetic bond between to people that is so hard to ignore. One of the unexplained parts of chemistry, or physics or whatever scientific mumbo-jumbo that _the spark_ has to do with.

"This wasn't what I expected," the man mumbled before clearing his throat to speak up. "Agent Morgan told me I could find you here and after my son told me how you saved him, I wanted to thank you. He means the world to me and I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't gotten him out of there in time."

"Oh, so you're Danny's father," Emily said. That was probably why the eyes were so familiar to her. "Nice to meet you," she said and held out her hand to greet him in an handshake.

The man obligated and firmly, but gently, shook her hand. "I'm Josh," he said as he took her hand in his.

As their hands met, Emily felt her heart beginning to beat faster. Damn the chemical reactions or whatever was to blame for the attraction she felt.

"And you don't have to thank me," Emily assured him as they let go of each others hands. As soon as she had said it, she sensed that the man wasn't about to let her brush it away that easily. "But you're welcome," she then added, hopefully stopping him from insisting that he had to.

As they stood in silence, Emily discreetly let her eyes take in the rest of the man's appearance. He was a very tall man and his hair was cut in a short hairstyle. The colour of his hair was brown. It wasn't dark neither was it light, it held a shade of something in between and Emily thought that it might pass as chestnut or chocolate brown hair.

On his face, he wore a five o'clock shadow, probably the result from worrying about his missing son and therefore forgetting to shave.

His skin was slightly tanned as if he had been in some place sunny lately and his upper arms that could be seen thanks to the T-shirt he was wearing were muscular. Not as muscular as Morgan's but still muscular.

Ever since the silence had filled the room the two grown-ups stood rooted at their respective spots, trying to come up with something to say. Emily had just started to think that it had become rather awkward when the man spoke.

"I'm so rude, forgive me!" Josh said and Emily's eyebrows knotted in confusion. What had the man done that could be seen as rude? According to Emily, he had been nothing but nice.

"I should ask you how you are," Josh clarified. "I understand that you were involved in the explosion too?"

He was rather sure of this information but it still came out as a question. He wouldn't list his four year old son as the most credible source.

"I'm good. A few scrapes and cuts but nothing I haven't come across before," Emily answered and smiled a genuine smile.

"That's good to hear," Josh said, indicating that she had come out of it all almost uninjured, though the cut on her lip and the fading bruise on her chin had him wondering what had caused them if not the explosion. He decided on not to ask her about it.

"I'm not sure if you have time for this but Danny asked to see you," Josh said, remembering his son's request.

"I've got time. On our way here to the hospital, I promised him I would stop by before heading back to the station," Emily clarified.

"If you're all done here, I can walk you there," Josh suggested.

"Sure. Lead the way," Emily said as she picked up the note listing her injuries signed by the Doctor.

When she had asked the Doctor to compile the list, he had looked at her strangely. Apparently it was rather unusual that his patients asked him to write down all their injuries and then sign the paper. As the Doctor had expressed his confusion, Emily had explained that it was a request from her Boss. After explaining further, the Doctor had seen her weird request as reasonable.

Josh exited the room and started to walk towards the room where his son was being treated. Emily quickly followed suit and tried to hide the fact that she was limping. The limping had been worst directly after the explosion and had decreased by now but it wasn't totally gone.

As she struggled to keep up with Josh's pace, Emily thought about the other reason she had agreed to see Danny. Her promise to the boy wasn't the only thing that made her walk closely behind his father. She often felt a need to protect the children which she came across during their cases but this time, the urge to do so was stronger than before. She realised it would be harder than usual to sever the contact with the kid after the case was over.

For the remaining time of the walk, Emily tried to come up with a way the goodbye she knew she had to say hurt less when she was at last forced to leave the boy behind and return to DC.

* * *

Josh stood back and watched as the female agent interacted with his son. Upon their first meting, he had felt something he hadn't felt for a woman since Danny's mother. He didn't know if it made him happy or if it totally freaked him out. Maybe it was a combination of both. Now, as he watched the two interact, he could state that what he had felt upon their first meeting wasn't a one time thing. The feelings he felt for the agent only increased as the scene in front of him played out.

The agent, Emily was her name, was seated on the edge of the hospital bed his son was occupying. When she first had entered the room, his son had squealed in delight and jumped off the bed to greet her in a hug. From this reaction, Josh had come to the conclusion that his son had become attached to the woman during his time in captivity. As he came to this conclusion, Josh started to think of how to make his son understand that the agent couldn't be a part of his life after the bad guy was caught.

Or could she?

If Josh listened to his feelings, the most reasonable thing to do would be to ask the agent out on a date, but could he really do that? Could he just ask the woman who had saved the life of his son to join him for dinner? Maybe be could phrase it more like a thank-you-for-saving-my-son-dinner than an actual date-dinner? The thought started to nestle in his brain and became more appealing the more he thought of it. Maybe he should invite her to dinner.

He let his eyes wander from his smiling son to the battered agent. Even though she had told him she was fine, he had seen how she walked with a slight limp on their way to Danny's room. The fading bruise on her cheek he had noticed before still had him wondering what other kind of trouble she had gotten herself into before the explosion. That combined with the scab on her lip had him wondering if trouble felt the same attraction to her as he did towards her. Maybe she was a trouble magnet. If he was to follow the same train of thought, did the attraction he felt towards the agent make him trouble?

* * *

_A/N: So, they're both okay and everything's fine. Let's hope it continues that way. Until next time!_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Wow! The response to the previous chapter was amazing! I think it actually became my most reviewed chapter. Thank you so much! I'm glad that most of you seem to like both Danny and Josh. Now on with the story!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

The ride from the hospital back to the station had been quiet. After Emily had said her goodbyes to the boy and his father, she had met up with Morgan in the dark outside the hospital. The sun had set and the night had emerged. Of course Morgan had asked to see the note signed by the Doctor listing her injuries and stating that she was fit for duty.

During the ride, Emily's thoughts had mostly been on the little boy and his father. The affection she felt for the boy was hard to deny and the fact that she had managed to keep her promise to save him almost made up for the crappy days she had had this week. Though, it would take a while to get over the emotional pain Dylan had caused her but at least the happiness she felt now was a start.

Her thoughts about Danny's father was a little bit messier and she had trouble sorting out her feelings for him. She had found him attractive, both his appearance and what she had seen of his personality. If she was to be honest with herself, she was intrigued by him. But the fact that her life seemed to have taken a rather chaotic turn lately, she wasn't sure about dragging anybody else into her mess. Unfortunately, the team had already been dragged into it and there was nothing she could do about it.

Wait a minute, was she seriously thinking of having some sort of a relationship with Josh and his son? After the way her latest relationship turned out? No, it was better to sort everything out with Dylan first. Then, maybe, she could begin thinking about seeing Josh and his son again. Emily settled on that being a wise choice and spent the time it took them to get to the station looking out the window.

* * *

Once the car was parked, the agents found their way to the conference room inside the station. As Emily had predicted, she was bombarded with questions as soon as she set a foot inside the room.

"How are you?" JJ, sitting at the table, asked whilst eyeing her friend with concern.

"Geez, I wish everybody would stop asking me that," Emily sighed.

"We'll stop once you've stopped getting hurt," JJ retorted. "Now answer my question."

Morgan, who had stopped just a step behind her found their exchange of words amusing and tried to suppress the laugh threatening to escape.

"I'm fine," Emily answered. "See, I even got a piece of paper signed by the Doctor to prove it." She held out the note for everyone to see.

"Let me take a look at that," Hotch said and reached for the paper.

Emily handed him the paper and sat down in a chair. Morgan did the same and sat down next to her. The others eyed Hotch, trying to read his reaction to what was written on the note but he kept it blank of any emotions.

"Seems legit," Hotch finally declared while putting the paper aside.

"Legit?" Emily scoffed. "Do you think I would forge a statement from the Doctor?"

"With you and doctors, you never know," JJ smirked.

"Seriously?" Emily said in disbelief. Sure she hated the hospital but the only one in the room able to forge a doctor's signature would be the Doctor himself; Reid.

"Just leave it, Kiddo," Rossi told her.

"Fine," Emily scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn't prepared for the pain the action would cause her which resulted in her fighting to keep the discomfort off her face. Apparently her banged up shoulder was still irritated after her collision with the back door of the barn.

"So, where were we?" Rossi asked and looked expectantly at Hotch who had been the one talking before Morgan arrived with the battered agent.

"I was just about to tell you what the perimeter search I ordered gave us. It gave us nothing. The Police didn't find anything that would indicate that our UnSub was present at the scene."

"Maybe it was just a one time thing last time?" Reid shared his thoughts.

"Maybe," Rossi said. "But it doesn't make any sense for him to be at one crime scene but not the other one."

"I agree with you," Hotch said. "Either something prevented him from being present or he was there but we didn't find him."

JJ chose that moment to tell the others about the conversation she had had with Garcia only minutes ago.

"Garcia called me a few minutes ago to update me on the search she's running on the DNA we collected from the bridge," JJ began, glancing at Emily who had been the one making the search even possible when she had put a bullet through their UnSub. "Unfortunately, there's been no match yet."

The atmosphere in the room changed as a result of the bad news JJ had delivered. They were stuck on this case and everyone knew that what they really needed was a new, solid lead.

"In other words, we have no new leads at the moment," Rossi voiced their thoughts.

"No, we don't," Hotch agreed. "So we go back and review what we already have."

Each agent reached out for a file and flipped it open. They spent the next hours reading and discussing what they read. They tried to look at everything with fresh eyes and hoped that they would detect something they have missed before by doing so. Unfortunately they didn't.

As they sat in the rather crowded conference room, the night became darker and darker.

When Hotch looked up from the file he was reading and saw it was pitch black outside, he glanced at his watch and decided it was time to send his agents back to the hotel to get some sleep. They had had an eventful day and from the looks of it, they were all in serious need of some rest.

"Since we have come up with nothing new, I suggest that we call it a day and head back to the hotel for some much needed sleep," Hotch said.

No one argued since they were all tired from the intense work they had been doing during the day in order to find the missing boy in time.

The sound of murmuring voices and chairs scraping against the floor filled the room as the team started to rise from their seats.

* * *

After Hotch had dismissed the team, Morgan stayed back and waited for Emily to finish the last page of the file she was currently engrossed in.

When Hotch had passed Morgan on his way out, the team leader had looked upon the younger agent with questioning eyes, wondering why Morgan wasn't leaving the station. Morgan had then nodded towards Emily, who Hotch had failed to notice on his way out, indicating that he was waiting for her to finish before he left. Hotch had nodded his understanding and bid him good night before he turned to leave.

Ten minutes had passed since the silent conversation between the team leader and his employee when Emily finally slammed the file down on the table in front of her. She then rose from her chair and started to stretch her weary body. She still had her back turned to Morgan while doing so and was therefore startled when he spoke.

"You up for some dinner before going back to the hotel?"

"Shit, Morgan! I thought I was the only one left," Emily said, a little embarrassed that he had managed to scare her.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Morgan apologised. He had seen how her body had jerked as his dark voice had traveled across the room.

"You didn't," Emily lied.

_Yeah right,_ Morgan thought but he choose not to call her out on her lie.

"Dinner?" he then asked again as she remained quiet.

Emily shook herself out of the trance like state she had ended up in and smiled towards him. "Some dinner sounds nice."

* * *

Morgan had suggested a pizza place near the hotel they were staying at and that was where they were heading. Emily had suggested that they should take the car back to the hotel and then walk the short distance to the pizza place. Morgan had agreed on the idea and half an hour later, they were walking through the doors to the restaurant.

As they stepped inside, the wonderful smell of newly baked pizzas assaulted their noses and made their mouths water.

"It smells amazing!" Emily commented as she followed Morgan while he was searching for the perfect table.

When asking Emily to join him for dinner he hadn't only thought about the fact that they hadn't eaten in several hours, he also had another reason for asking her. He was hoping that he could make her talk about the last couple of days. He wanted to know where her mind was at and how he could either help her keep it that way or what he could do to change it for the better if she was in a dark place. He was worried that yesterday's near death experience might had trigger some unwanted feelings for her.

Morgan kept walking past tables until he found a booth located in the back corner of the restaurant. It was private but still public enough for them to feel the relaxed atmosphere radiating from the other customers enjoying their meals.

He shrugged off his jacket and slid down on the couch-like seat. Emily did the same but choose to sit on the other side of the table. A few seconds after they had seated, a waiter walked up to their table, bringing them laminated menus. Morgan politely ordered the drinks, a Coca-Cola each. The waiter then went to fetch their drinks and left them to study the menu.

Both agents read the menu in silence and when the waiter returned, both had made up their mind about what to order. Emily ordered a Pepperoni with fresh spinach as additional topping while Morgan settled for a Hawaiian. The waiter left with their orders and the duo immediately started a conversation as they waited for their food to arrive.

"You just destroyed a perfectly good pizza by adding that green stuff," Morgan complained, indicating the spinach.

"Says the man who ordered a pizza covered with fruit," Emily retorted with a smirk.

"It's pineapple! It's one of the most popular toppings for pizzas," Morgan defended.

"But it's still a fruit," Emily pointed out. "Would you've complained if I had added banana instead?"

"You don't eat banana on a pizza," Morgan said and wrinkled his nose as he thought about how it would taste. "Especially not combined with pepperoni."

"So what you're saying is that it's okay for you to order a fruit pizza but others can't order a fruit pizza if the fruit is anything but pineapple?"

"Wait, what?" Morgan asked in confusion. "You," he said and jabbed a finger at Emily, "are making this a lot more complicated than it has to be."

Emily brought her glass of Coca-Cola to her lips and smirked over the rim. "Really? Or is it just you who have problems separating fruit from fruit?"

To this, Morgan didn't have an answer, he simply shook his head and chuckled.

Emily, who considered his silence a win, laughed with him. They then changed the topic of the conversation and enjoyed each others company until their pizzas were placed in front of them.

Both of them eagerly began cutting their food into manageable slices before they let the first bite silence them.

As they filled their stomachs, Morgan kept the conversation centred on lighter topics and let Emily finish her meal before he dared to bring up the heavier ones, such as her well being. He watched as she drained the last of her drink before leaning back in her seat with a satisfied expression and placing her intertwined hands on her full stomach.

"That was the best I've eaten in days!" Emily stated.

"Me too," Morgan agreed as he, too, leaned back in his seat. "Speaking of the last couple of days, how are you?"

"I'm good," Emily assured him and smiled.

Morgan couldn't decide if the smile was genuine or forced, maybe it was somewhat in between. "Care to elaborate?" he asked tenderly.

Emily knew what he was doing. She had actually suspected that the invitation to join him for dinner had been a way to get her away from the other so that he could speak to her alone. She had been surprised when he hadn't asked her any questions about her state of mind during the dinner and it had come to a point when she started to think that she might had been wrong. Now she knew she hadn't.

"I'm a bit sore but otherwise I feel fine."

The both remained quiet, patiently waiting for the other one to say something. Morgan had this question he really wanted to ask her but he didn't know how to do it without upsetting her or, once he had asked the question, get an honest answer out of her. After debating the question over and over in his head, he made an attempt to ask.

"Emily, how come..." It wasn't the right way to start Morgan realised and tried another approach. "Why did you..." His voice trailed off once again. This wasn't going as he had hoped for.

Emily was sitting across him, patiently waiting for him to find the right words.

_Screw this_, Morgan thought and decided to ask her the direct question he so desperately wanted an answer to. "Emily, why do you keep putting yourself in harms way? Is it on purpose?"

There, he had said it and now he was carefully observing her reaction. So far it was a challenge. She had retreated behind her protective walls and kept her face empty of any emotions. Morgan tried to decide if it was a good thing or not but he couldn't make up his mind.

"Are you asking me if I'm suicidal?" she said after a painful minute of silence.

"No... Yes... I don't know," Morgan sighed. "I guess, sort of. I'm just worried about you. During these last few days, you've acted irrationally and done a lot of reckless things." Morgan could see she was about to say something but he held up his hand to silence her. He needed to speak what was on his mind before they could have a conversation about it. He needed for her to understand what he was talking about.

"In four days you've entered two building, both having a bomb placed inside. You've taken a dive off a bridge and you've emptied the minibar," Morgan said in a low voice. "You've also got a crazy ex creating all kinds of trouble for you. Today I though I'd lost you again, Prentiss, and I freaked out. I started thinking about those seven months of hell I went through when you were away. And I know I'm selfish telling you this because I know you did what you did back then to protect us and I know you're still feeling guilty about the pain your actions caused the team but I really think you need to hear this. You need to be reminded of how much you mean to all of us and I thought that maybe if I reminded you, you will think twice before you jump inside the next burning building or the next life threatening situation you can find. We need you, Emily. Just as much as you need us, so please talk to us when you're in trouble, or when you're feeling bad, or when you think that a simple 'I'm sorry' text is enough before you risk your life. Just, please, talk to us. We want to help."

Morgan's speech had brought tears to her eyes which Emily was desperately trying to fight off. She couldn't cry in front of him again, even though it would be for another reason than the last time.

She had to clear her throat twice before she dared to speak, fearing that her voice, thick with emotions, might crack. "I know you want to help. I know the team wants to help but it's just really hard for me to ask for it. The same goes for the talking part. And I know you wanted to help back then, with Doyle. I listened to Garcia's message but I was already too close to turn back to you guys and if I did, he would have found you and he would have killed you." Emily took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Growing up, I never had anyone to confide in except myself and as I grew older, I got used to dealing with my problems on my own."

He knew her childhood hadn't been anything like his own, filled with teasing siblings and a loving mother who loved to spoil her children by cooking them the most amazing food for example. Neither did she have an exceptional father who died a hero. Even though he knew that her childhood hadn't been like his it still hurt a to hear that she had only relied on herself as a little girl. After his father's death, Morgan had always been able to confide in his mother and sisters while dealing with the grief and what else came along as he grew up. Considering this, Morgan was really happy with the progress Emily had made in just a few days. And despite this he sincerely wished Emily had had someone like he had, still has, while growing up.

"You're doing great now," Morgan encouraged her. "Talking to me."

Emily smiled a small smile. "And to answer your question, I'm not suicidal. I just think that sometimes my life is worth risking if it might result in saving someone else's."

Morgan nodded his understanding. He knew where she was coming from. He himself had felt the same thing more than once.

"You sure you're okay?" Morgan gently probed.

"Yeah," Emily assured him. "The talking, crying and vomiting we did the other day helped," Emily smiled. "Even though I only remember bits and pieces of it."

"You were the one doing the crying and vomiting," Morgan gently reminded her as his lips curled into a teasing smile. "I was only talking."

"Whatever," Emily huffed while doing a dismissive wave with her hand.

"If it helped, maybe we should do it more often," Morgan mused.

Emily nodded her head at his suggestion. "Maybe."

Morgan was pleased that she was at least considering it. "But maybe we could cut down on the crying and the vomiting."

The laughter that escaped from Emily was like music to Morgan's ears. It was genuine, full of life and a sign that she was happy which was everything he could wish for his friend.

"Sounds good to me," Emily said once she had calmed down.

The agents sitting at the table grew quiet once again but this time it was a comfortable silence that surrounded them. For a few minutes they sat quiet opposite each other and studied the other customers at the pizza place. They were also reflecting on the conversation they had just finished.

When Morgan thought enough time had passed, he spoke up. "Care for some dessert?"

His question brought Emily's attention to him and away from the customers she had been observing.

"Maybe we could find a place that serves cake," he carried on with a wink, the memory of how she had reacted to the cake they had eaten at Hotch's birthday party not too long ago fresh in mind.

Emily laughed as she was reminded of the cake and what had happened. "As long as you don't eat from my slice."

"Like that ever happened," Morgan smiled all while he tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Yeah, right," Emily said and shook her head at his attempt to alter the story to his favour.

"Okay, but seriously, do you want to see if we can find a place or what do you say?"

Emily really wanted to say yes but her body protested against it. She was sore and tired and hadn't really gotten a good night's sleep yesterday due to the bruises she had covering her body. She had tried to find a comfortable position where she didn't manage to aggravate her bruising but apparently it were everywhere. She decided to listen to her body. The case wasn't over yet and she needed as much sleep as she could get so she would be able to keep her head in the game. "As tempting as it may sound, my body is screaming at me to drag my ass into bed and I think I'm gonna listen to it."

"Yeah, that's probably a wise decision," Morgan agreed. He realised that he should have suggested it himself. Since Emily had made it a mission to get hurt more than once during this case her body needed as much rest as it could get to recover.

The both rose from their seats and Morgan payed for the meal before they left the restaurant side by side. Stepping outside, they were met by a rather chilly night.

"May I escort the Lady back to her room?" Morgan formally asked Emily while he held out his arm for her.

"You may," Emily said, playing along and linked her arm to his.

Together they walked the dark streets back to the hotel where they parted and then went to their respective rooms where they both crashed on their beds.

* * *

The next morning the team assembled in the conference room at eight am sharp. They had only just sat down before the lead Detective on the case came crashing through the door. Emily remarked that it had become a habit for him to do so since they arrived.

"He's mailed us another tape," he told them as he held up the recorder for them to see in his gloved hand. "But here's where it gets weird," he continued. "He didn't send us a map or a photo."

The Agents looked at each other in puzzlement. Why would their UnSub not send them a map and a photo? It was his M.O. Why would he break from it? The questions remained unanswered as Hotch took control over the situation.

"Bring it over here," Hotch said and gestured towards the table.

The Detective obliged and put the recorder on the table top. Hotch let the man sit down before he pressed the play button. Everyone seated around the table sat quiet, anticipating what was to come. Once the voice started talking they all listened carefully.

"_Guess what? It's me again!"_

The agents made eye contact with each other as the sarcastic greeting met them. Rossi even rolled his eyes at it.

"_You're getting better, I have to admit. Unfortunately for you it means that the rules will change, but this time you'll have to figure them out for yourselves. For your own sake, I hope that you're as smart as you claim to be. Otherwise things will get nasty."_

An unease spread in the room and the demeanour of the agents became more tense.

"_Speaking of nasty, I'm seriously getting tired of your desire to play big hero all the time, Emily. I had everything going according to the plan until you decided to take off on a suicide mission, which you unfortunately failed. From the way I see it, Honey, you have cheated death a little too many times now. Maybe next time you won't be so lucky..." _

The recording ended with an abrupt click and left the agents momentarily silenced.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so our Meanie is back with another recording. Next up is a few comments about the tape and what I would call a little surprise. See you then!_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: I apologise for the delay! I'll try to write the next chapter a little faster. We'll begin where we left off._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

"Did he just threaten Emily?" Morgan asked, a hint of protectiveness filling his voice.

"I don't know, maybe," Rossi thought aloud.

"Oh, come on guys!" Emily sighed. "If he did, it was nothing but an empty threat. Let's not make a big deal out of nothing."

"But what if his next target is you?" Reid questioned. "He sort of told you to watch your back, in a cryptic kind of way."

"Okay, everyone. Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet," Hotch urged and held out his hands in an attempt to calm down the riled up agents.

"We don't know what the UnSub meant but it _could_ be a threat towards you," Hotch said and locked eyes with Emily. She was just about to argue when a stern look from him told her not to. She pressed her lips together, crossed her arms over her chest and remained quiet.

"That is why I'm taking precautions. From now on I want you to stay at the station as much as possible. At least until we have found out who it is we're dealing with."

"I'm getting benched?!" Emily said in disbelief.

"Not benched, Prentiss. You're just not allowed to work out in the field right now."

"That is getting benched!"

"If this case has proven something to me, it is that every trouble we have come across has drawn itself to you. I won't risk the life of one of my agents when I have other options, such as keeping you at the station."

Emily realised it was no point in arguing, they were doing it Hotch's way no matter what she said. Even though she knew this she did not like it at all. This was the second time she was ordered to remain at the station since they began working this case and she wasn't happy about it, not the least.

"You will be working with Officers Hale and Anderson. You'll also be assisting Detective Moore if needed," Hotch informed her.

_Not the twins!_ Emily thought. In defeat she walked over to the small table placed in the room to make herself a cup of tea. After filling the water boiler with water, she pressed the button and waited. Once the water was boiling, she poured it in her cup over her teabag containing vanilla flavoured tea. She thought it might be best to drink something soothing after her date with the minibar the other night.

With her teacup in hand, she walked back to the table and set the warm beverage down on the table. She then began playing with the teabag as she waited for the drink to cool off a little. If she drank it now she would risk burning her tongue and she already put her body through enough pain as it was.

As Emily had left her seat to make herself some tea, the others had briefly discussed the best way to proceed with the investigation. Unfortunately, they hadn't come up with a strategy that would actually move the investigation forward. What they really needed was a new, solid lead and this Rossi voiced.

Seconds after Rossi had expressed that thought, Morgan's phone went off.

In one swift motion he pulled it from his pocket and answered the call with a smile plastered on his face.

"Tell me something I wanna hear," Morgan answered Garcia's call and put her on speaker.

"_You're my Chocolate Adonis and I have a sweet tooth."_

Garcia's happy mood quickly made Emily feel less bad about getting benched. Maybe she could keep her on the line as company when the others were out in the field? Emily carefully sipped her tea as she listened to Morgan giving his response to Garcia's comment.

"Not that I don't appreciate it but I meant something more in the line of this case," he chuckled.

"_I have come up with a DNA-profile which I'm currently running through the system, starting with our suspects?"_

"Now, we're talking," Morgan grinned. "How did you manage to get the profile so soon?"

"_I called in some favours and then I did a little thingy," _Garcia revealed.

"May I ask what this little thingy was?" Rossi asked with an amused smile which could be heard when he spoke.

"_Well, my Italian, bearded man, that is a top-notch secret that you don't have the clearance to hear," _Garcia answered matter-of-factly in her own Garcia-way.

A plink could be heard on the other side of the line and then the sound of a moving chair traveled across the line.

"_My babies just found a match to the creepy-cooper's DNA," _Garcia filled them in. _"Aaand our lucky winner is psycho number one, Stuart Lockwood."_

"I think I have his file here somewhere," Reid mumbled and started roaming through the files laying on the table top in front of him. "Found it!"

"He's one of the men we didn't exclude, right?" JJ asked.

"That's correct," Hotch answered her. "I read his file but I couldn't find anything that pointed to him being our UnSub, neither could I detect something that indicated that he wasn't."

By now, Reid had the open file placed in front of him and was scanning the information.

"His hatred towards the Police isn't based on nothing. He failed to get in to the Academy and that was probably when his plans started to develop. He then blew up a few cars and was later caught and that's why his DNA is in the system," Reid summoned up what he was reading.

"He's probably planned this for months, maybe even years," Morgan stated.

Hotch nodded his agreement. "Garcia, give me everything you can find on Stuart Lockwood. Known locations, properties owned by him and or his family, withdrawals from his bank account. Check the places where his phone has been... You know the drill," Hotch gave his orders.

"_I will look under every rock, investigate every loophole, invade his privacy in every way I possibly can," _Garcia announced._ "I will not rest until I have revealed all his secrets, and when I have, you, Oh Mighty Crime Fighters, will be the first to know. Even though I'm extremely good at multitasking, I need to hang up now because your awesomeness and mortalness is distracting me!" _

Everyone looked at Morgan's phone as the call ended. Hotch frowned and the others watched him with amused expressions.

"She passed the latest drug test, right?" Hotch questioned.

"With flying colours," Morgan assured him with a grin.

"Go figures," Hotch muttered.

This little exchange of words caused everyone seated around the table to break out in laughter.

* * *

As they waited for Garcia to send them everything she could find on Stuart Lockwood the team went over what they already had on him.

From the information found in his file they knew that he had no living relatives except for his mother who they, after making some calls, located at a nursing home. She hadn't seen her son since he moved her to that home five years ago. After verifying the information with the staff at the nursing home, the team quickly excluded her as a relevant source to where her son might be.

The next call went to his parole officer who, very clearly, expressed his doubt about Lockwood being responsible for the murders. According to the officer, Lockwood was the best and most remorseful criminal he had ever dealt with. Even when Hotch told the officer about the DNA putting his parolee at one of the crime scenes the man refused to believe that Lockwood was a cold-blooded killer. The call ended with Hotch telling the officer to send over all the paperwork he had on Lockwood and as the man was about to refuse, Hotch gently reminded him that if he didn't cooperate he would be hindering a federal investigation which is a crime. The officer had become quiet and then muttered that they would soon be receiving the paperwork they had asked for.

Hotch had just finished the call when JJ decided that she was in a need of something to eat, preferably something unhealthy. She excused herself from the conference room and set her course to the vending machine.

Once she had reached the machine containing all sorts of unhealthy snacks she took her time to choose the right one. Decision made, she fed the metallic box the money it demanded and then she patiently waited for her Austin Cheese Crackers with Cheddar Cheese to drop down, she had always had a thing for cheese.

When she heard the muffled sound of her snack landing, she reached inside the machine and retrieved it. Crackers in hand she started walking back to the conference room but didn't make it further than to the reception before something caught her attention, or rather someone.

She moved closer to confirm her suspicions regarding the person's identity and once she had established it, she announced herself and asked for the reason behind the unannounced visit to the station.

A few minutes later when it had been explained, JJ was once again on the move. This time she did reach the conference room without running into any other kind of distractions.

"You have a visitor," JJ said as she sat down, package of crackers in hand.

"Who? Me?" Emily asked in confusion as she saw that JJ's eyes were locked on her.

"Yup," she casually answered as she took a bite of her first cracker. The taste of cheese filled her mouth and JJ wondered how come some people didn't like cheese. According to her, it was better than m&amp;m's which pretty much everyone eats nowadays.

"Who?" Emily asked as she turned around to look through the glass window separating the conference room from the office space full of policemen and women.

"Why don't you go find out?" JJ suggested and started on her third cracker.

"You're not gonna tell me no matter how much I nag about it, are you?"

"Nope," JJ smiled and then the third cracker was gone.

Emily sighed and rose from her chair. Her body still hurt a little from the explosion but she refused to show any sign of it. She was afraid Hotch might take her off the case if she did so she kept her face empty of any emotion as she stood. With cautious steps she walked out the door and hoped that the slight limp she still walked with wasn't showing.

She closed the door behind her and took a few steps before she stopped to survey the area, hoping to find her visitor. Everyone she could see looked like they belonged at the station and it wasn't until she had walked around the corner hiding the reception desk that she found someone that looked slightly out of place.

The person had his back to her but she still thought he looked familiar. After catching a glimpse of his face in profile she thought she knew who it was. But it made no sense, why would he of all people be here?

"Josh?" Emily asked to confirm her suspicions that it was indeed the man she thought it was.

Upon hearing her voice, the person spun around and revealed his identity.

She had been right. The person standing in front of her was Josh. Once she knew who her visitor was, Emily started to think of a reason for him to visit and what she came up with was nothing good.

"What's going on?" she questioned while an unease spread in her stomach. "Is Danny okay?" Emily had never before thought about the possibility that their UnSub might be re-targeting his pervious victims, the ones who survived, but it was pretty much the only reason she could think of that would lead to this unexpected visit of Josh's.

Josh saw the worry etched in her face and quickly tried to make it go away by assuring her that his son was safe. "Everything is fine. Danny's getting discharged from the hospital later today after they've finished the final tests, which I couldn't be present for, so I thought I might visit and talk to you."

"Really?" Emily asked while her eyebrows moved towards her hairline. "So you just casually go on a little adventure to the Police station to talk to me? Is there any reason behind this little road trip of your's or is it just plain spontaneous?"

"Well, there might be a reason behind it," Josh began. "Before I left the hospital, Danny and I were talking. About you actually."

Emily just looked at him with confusion. So, father and son had been discussing her, but why?

"Danny thought that we should do something nice for you, as a way of saying thanks, so we came up with this idea of inviting you to our home for dinner."

Dinner? A simple thank you would have been fine with her.

"At the hospital I heard the other agent, Morgan I think his name was, telling my son that he worked in the Behaviour Analysis Unit when he was interviewing him. Then I watched the news and realised that you're not from here, am I right?"

"No, we traveled here from D.C. We're stationed in Virginia," Emily replied not sure where he was going with this.

"Then I guess you'll return home when the case is over?"

Emily simply nodded her yes. She still didn't know where he was going with this.

"So, we were thinking that maybe, if you want to, you could make a little detour to our apartment and have dinner before you leave. I know Danny would be delighted if you could and I really think that you deserve a proper thank-you for risking your own life to save the one of my son," Josh said and looked hopefully at her. "So what do you say?"

"I..I don't know what to say... I really appreciate the offer but it's not necessary. A simple thank-you is good enough for me. You don't have to invite me to dinner."

"Oh, I know I don't _have to _but I'd like to. I know Danny would love for you to be there."

The vision of the smile that had spread across the little boy's face when she walked into his hospital room yesterday materialised in front of her and she found herself accepting the invitation without realising it.

"That's great!" Josh smiled a big toothy grin. "Any allergies I should be aware of?"

"No, no allergies," Emily answered and couldn't help but to join in on his smile.

"Then I suggest you take my number and when you've solved this case, give me a call and we'll be expecting you." He reached inside his back pocket to pull out his wallet in which he kept his business cards. He then handed one to Emily and put the wallet back in his pocket.

"Thanks," Emily said as she accepted his card. "I'll call you once we've sorted out this mess. From the looks of it right now, it might take a while."

"No worries," Josh assured her. "Call me when you've got time."

"Will do."

"Then I guess I should let you get back to work. Bye, Agent Prentiss." He held out his hand for her to shake.

"Bye," Emily said and shook his hand. As she did, she locked eyes with him and be damned if she didn't feel that spark she had in the hospital room yesterday.

They let go after holding on to each other a little too long and then Josh gave her one last lopsided smile before he turned to leave and walked off.

Emily watched for a minute as he walked off. Apparently she would be attending dinner at the Bentleys sometime in the near future. She then realised it was time to get back to work. She would have to deal with her confusing feelings later, preferably after this UnSub was behind bars.

Emily left the reception, walked back to the conference room and deliberately avoided JJ's gaze as she entered the room. Emily couldn't decide if JJ knew something about what she and Josh had just talked about but judging by the mischievous grin Emily saw covering JJ's face when she dared to glance her way, she most likely had.

Dropping her eyes to the floor and keeping her gaze away from JJ's, Emily hoped to avoid a confrontation in front of the others.

"Everything okay?" Morgan asked as Emily returned to her seat.

"Yeah," Emily quickly assured him and quickly changed the subject back to what they had been discussing when she left the room. "Did I miss something while I was gone?"

* * *

During the next couple of hours, the team spent their time visiting the known properties owned by Stuart Lockwood. Hotch had divided the team into pairs and Emily had been ordered to stay back at the station along with him. Hotch had argued that she needed the rest after yesterday's ordeal and Emily choose not to argue against his decision. She feared that she might be taken off this case if she did.

When the others had returned to the station without any new leads, they were all feeling the defeat. JJ then suggested that they would eat some lunch and later go over what they already had once again with fresh eyes and full stomachs. The others thought it sounded like a good idea and Morgan quickly volunteered to bring them the food.

"Hurry back because I'm starving!" JJ shouted to his back as he walked away. A wave of his hand told JJ that he had heard her.

The minutes passed and when Morgan hadn't returned after thirty minutes, JJ started to grow worried. She couldn't focus on what she was reading anymore, the words melted together and formed sentences that not even Reid would be able to make sense of. She abandoned the file, leaned back in her chair and waited.

The fact that her stomach was screaming for food only made the wait even more excruciating. Her stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear and Rossi kindly offered her some of the pretzels he had retrieved earlier.

"Thanks," JJ said and took one only to moments later add a few as Rossi insisted she would.

She kept herself occupied for the next ten minutes by nibbling on the snack Rossi had given her. When Morgan still hadn't returned after those ten minutes, JJ decided to express her worries.

"Shouldn't he be back by now?"

"Maybe he's stuck in traffic," Reid suggested.

"In this town?" Emily said in disbelief.

"You got a point, Prentiss," Rossi joined the conversation.

"I'll try calling him," JJ decided and picked up her phone from the table. She quickly dialled Morgan's number and patiently waited for him to pick up.

She waited and waited until she was greeted by his voicemail. She left a short message where she asked him what was taking him so long. She also told him to call back as soon as he got the message.

The others watched her as she left the short message and they too began to feel a bit worried. It wasn't like Morgan to not pick up when one of them was calling, usually he was the fastest to answer their calls.

"I'm sure he just forgot to turn on the sound on his phone," Rossi tried to reassure the team that nothing freaky was going on.

"Maybe," JJ said even though she didn't believe his words. She wanted to because the alternative sounded too awful to her. She really wanted believe him to but she didn't.

Another fifteen minutes passed before JJ decided that something wasn't right. She tried calling Morgan's cell three more time but when she repeatedly reached his voicemail, she dialled the one person she knew would be able to help her. Garcia.

"_Penelope's house of 'how may I save your ass today'?"_

"Hey, Garcia. It's me, JJ. I need you to do a trace on Morgan's cellphone."

"_Why do you need me to do that? What's going on with my Baby?"_

"I'm not sure," JJ sighed. "He left the station over an hour ago to fetch us some lunch and hasn't returned yet. He's not picking up when I'm calling him and we're starting to get worried over here."

"_I'm on it!" _Garcia reported.

JJ sat quiet as she waited for Garcia to deliver the verdict. Once JJ heard what Garcia had to say, she wasn't pleased and even more convinced than before that something had gone terribly wrong since Morgan left the station.

* * *

When Garcia had traced the SUV Morgan was driving back to the diner they had decided to order their lunch from, everyones' suspicions grew. They had immediately gone to the remaining SUV and drove off. Hotch had tried to make Emily stay at the station because of the hint of a threat their UnSub had made towards her but Emily had refused to stay back and was now seated in the passenger seat next to Hotch.

In the backseat, Rossi, JJ and Reid had squeezed in next to each other. JJ was currently redialling Morgan's phone in hope that he would pick up and tell them that their worries had been for nothing. That the car had refused to start, that he was taking a taxi back to the station and that he would be arriving within minutes. Unfortunately, her calls kept going to the voicemail and JJ was seriously starting to doubt something wasn't wrong.

Under normal circumstances the team would have divided themselves into two different vehicles but as time was a delicate factor here, and the fact that no one could find the car keys to a second vehicle, had resulted in fitting all of the agents in one car. The tension inside the car was obvious and so was their worries. Even though everyone felt it, no one expressed their shared emotion.

Hotch drove as quickly as possible and with high concentration. Everybody in the car felt the g-force as Hotch slammed the brakes to avoid a collision with another fast-going car. Nobody commented on their change of speed, they were all used to the harsh driving after years with the Police force.

Another agonising, silent minute passed before the car came to a halt outside the diner next to Morgan's, upon first glance, abandoned car.

The car had barely stopped before the agents stumbled out of it. Rossi was the first one to spot the plastic bag laying on the ground, half of its contents sprawled out next to it. It took Reid approximately three seconds to recognise the salmon and salad sandwich he had told Morgan to order.

"It's Morgan's bag," Reid stated.

During the time Rossi and Reid's focus had been on the plastic bag, Hotch had moved to the car.

When he reached it he saw that the driver door wasn't fully closed and as Hotch opened it, using a glove to avoid leaving prints, he noticed that the key was inserted in the ignition.

"He was about to start the car but something must have made him get out of it because the key is till in the ignition," Hotch let the others know.

"I can't seem to find any trace of blood or anything else that would indicate a struggle," Emily said. "Except for the dropped bag."

"I found his phone!" Hotch informed them with his head inside the car. "From the looks of it, it has been tossed on the floor or it has fallen down. I can't think of a reason for Morgan to put his phone on the floor so it most likely fell down somehow," he elaborated.

"So what do we think happened here?" JJ questioned.

Everyone took a minute to collect their thoughts before beginning to speak.

"I think something or someone made Morgan leave the car when he was about to drive off judging by the inserted key," Rossi began.

"But if Morgan was about to drive off when something made him leave the car, why is the bag laying outside the car?" Reid expressed his confusion.

The other agents pondered his question.

"Maybe he still had the bag in his hand as he was starting the car and when he got out of it, he never let go of the bag and it followed," Emily suggested.

"Sounds reasonable to me," Rossi nodded.

"But what would make Morgan leave the car?" JJ wondered.

"I don't know but I bet we would get better answers if we took a look at the footage from the street camera over there," Hotch said and pointed to the surveillance camera placed on the wall on the opposite side of the street.

"I'm calling Garcia," Rossi declared.

Rossi took a few steps away from the group as he pressed the speed dial to Garcia. The rest of the team remained by the abandoned car and Hotch called in the possible abduction of a federal agent as the others thought about the seriousness of the situation.

Just as Rossi was making his way back to the gathering, Emily felt something against her right leg and heard a muffled noise. She realised it was her phone that was asking for her attention so she fished it out of her pocket. When she looked at the screen it was all black. She pressed the round button beneath the screen and when it lit up the small green and white icon to the left told her she had an unread message. Curious to who the text was from, Emily unlocked her phone and pressed the icon. She then shivered as she read the message which had been sent from an unknown number.

_Missing your partner, Sweetheart? _

* * *

_A/N: I guess that was kind of mean, leaving you with a cliffhanger like that. But as I said earlier, I'll try to write faster. See you again next time!_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Let's get right on to finding out what's going on with Morgan, shall we?_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

Morgan groaned as he came to. His body ached and it screamed in protest as he tried to move. He cursed himself for falling asleep on the damn park bench of a couch he had placed in one of the houses he was currently renovating. He had bought the cheapest thing he could find and put it in the room so that he could have a place to rest when he got tired of standing up all day. Sometimes he accidentally fell asleep on it when he was really tired. He assumed that it must have been what happened this time too.

He tried to open his eyes but had to close them as soon as he managed to open them. He had a killer headache and his head felt fuzzy. The headache was so bad that Morgan was convinced a small troll had settled in his head while he slept because Morgan was pretty sure someone had decided to begin practicing parkour on the inside of his skull.

As if that wasn't enough, his mouth reminded him of a desert and he doubted there was any saliva in it at the moment, or had been for a long time. From the dusty sensation in it he was beginning to wonder if his ability to produce new saliva had vanished while he slept.

He gave opening his eyes another try. He pried his eyes open and was met by a dim light illuminating the dust particles floating around in the room. His vision was blurry and he had to blink away the fog clouding them before he could see clearly. When his sight was clear, Morgan realised that he wasn't waking up on the couch after an uncomfortable sleep, he was in a foreign room.

The walls were made of what looked like concrete and all around small chunks of the wall had fallen down, leaving ugly holes. Everywhere around him, there were what looked like meat hooks fastened to the ceiling. He studied the hooks and concluded that they were made of some sort of metal, maybe steel? Morgan realised that the material of the hooks was irrelevant when it came to finding out where the hell he was. Instead he began observing the area more thoroughly.

What first caught his interest was the floor beneath the hooks. Even though it was rather dark at this unknown place, he could clearly see the darker spots on the floor beneath them. Judging from the look of it, it was dried blood. _This is not good,_ Morgan thought.

He moved on to surveying the room. Besides the hooks hanging from the ceiling, he found nothing of interest. Well, except for the door slightly to the right of him. That door looked very interesting in the hopes of getting out of there. From what he could make out of it there in the dark, it was made of something other than wood. It had a flat surface so maybe some type of metal, or it could be any other material that didn't look like wood. Morgan sighed. He had no idea and it was too hard to tell in the dark.

Wait a minute! How come he didn't see the door from a frog's perspective? He had thought he had woken up with a sore body because he had fallen asleep on something hard, laying down, but apparently he hadn't.

For the first time since he woke up, Morgan began investigating his position. He was placed upright, not laying down, and he was hanging with his feet barely touching the ground. And he was supported by a meathook.

The strain in his shoulders were painful, very painful and that was when he thought of using his legs to put some weight off his arms. He pushed with his feet and some of the pain disappeared but it was still extremely uncomfortable.

How could he have missed that he was hanging from a freaking hook?

Usually that would've been the first thing that crossed his mind but things were not working properly right now. Blame the headache or his fuzzy brain.

Speaking of brains, it was time to search his for memories of how he ended up in this situation.

He remembered spending the day at the station. They'd made no progress, same as the days before, and they were running out of leads.

Someone had complained about being hungry, or maybe complained wasn't the right word, expressed their need for food might be a better way to express it. Had it been Rossi?

Nah, Morgan couldn't find any memory of it being him. Reid?

No, not him either. JJ?

That's right! It had been JJ asking for food.

After remembering that detail, Morgan's memory trailed on. He recalled volunteering to pick up the food and driving to a diner. He even remembered the team's orders. His mind replayed the scene where he paid for his order and after that walked back to his car with the plastic bag full of food in his hand.

And then the rest came back to him.

* * *

_Morgan had just inserted the key in the ignition and was about to put his phone down when he heard someone calling out to him, or at least what he assumed was him since he was the only one in the parking lot._

"_Excuse me, Sir?" the voice called. _

_The phone slipped out of his grasp and ended up on the floor. _

"_Damn!" he swore quietly. He would have to take care of that later. _

"_Yes?" Morgan said and turned his head so that he was looking out the driver's window. _

_A few feet away, an older man stood holding a plastic bag identical to the one Morgan still had in his hand. He hadn't had the time to place it in the seat next to him before the man had called for him so he had ended up with it in his lap. _

"_I think the diner might have gotten our orders mixed up," the man shouted at him since he was too far away to speak in a normal man's posture and voice signalled that he was sorry for having to bother the black man. _

_Morgan looked at the contents of his bag and saw everything he remembered ordering inside. Even though he found what he thought was his complete order the possibility that the man was right still remained. Morgan could've forgotten some of his order._

_Because of this possibility, Morgan got out of the vehicle and left the key in the ignition. He didn't care to shut the door properly but choose to leave it slightly ajar. He would be back in the car in a few seconds. _

"_I'm pretty sure they got my order right but let's check just to be sure," Morgan said as he neared the man. _

_When Morgan got closer, he saw that the man had blue eyes and a brownish hair colour with greying temples. He looked vaguely familiar to Morgan but he couldn't place him. _

_He pushed the thought aside and reasoned that he met so many new people because of his job and sometimes people looked alike and that it was probably the reason to why he thought the man looked familiar. _

_Morgan kept studying the man as he approached. He guessed the guy must be in his late forties. He looked good for his age, Morgan observed. His face held a healthy glow and his body was in a good shape, in great shape actually. Morgan was pretty sure the man had made it a habit of working out almost as mush as himself, maybe even a little bit more. _

_The man handed Morgan his bag once Morgan was standing in front of him. Morgan, oblivious to what would happen next, studied the bag's contents in a relaxed stance._

_As Morgan did, the man discreetly reached for the syringe he had carefully tucked down in his back pocket. The man knew he had to act quickly, it was in fact a trained FBI agent he was about to attack. He made his move as Morgan was about to bring his gaze back up from the bag. _

"_I'm sorry, Pal, but I think they might have given your order to someone else because they got mine righ-" Morgan was cut off as he felt something puncturing his skin and then the world started dancing. _

* * *

Morgan got furious. The bastard had used a tranquilliser on him!

* * *

"What do we do now?" JJ questioned and looked hopelessly at the abandoned SUV.

"Hey, guys!" Emily called from her spot a few feet away from the car. "I think the UnSub's texting me."

In an instant she was surrounded by her teammates.

"What does it say?" Hotch wanted to know.

Emily held up her phone so that the others could read the message.

"I would say it's most likely the UnSub. Even though it's only a four word text, you can clearly detect the mocking tone which our UnSub has been using while communicating with us," Reid supplied.

"Most likely?" Emily couldn't resist to comment on his choice of words. "You don't have a percentage based on some mumble-jumble stuff?"

Rossi smirked at her teasing of the younger agent and winked at her once he caught her eye.

Emily answered him with a broad smile but it quickly disappeared from her face as she was reminded of the grim situation they were in. It had felt nice to forget about it for a second.

"But didn't we profile that he was targeting Emily?" JJ asked the question that was on their minds. "Why would he be kidnapping Morgan?"

"It's his way of getting to you, Prentiss. It's too easy to kidnap you, it's the game he likes. We have always been players in that game and for some reason he began targeting you. He'll get an even bigger thrill of watching us, specifically you, Prentiss, fighting against the clock to find Morgan than what he would have gotten if he took you instead," Hotch said.

"So you're telling me that Morgan got kidnapped by a bomb-making psycho because he's my partner?" Emily tried to understand his logic, which she had to admit was very logical but she still didn't want to believe it because if she did, it would mean that yet another person had ended up in danger because of her.

"Unfortunately, yes," Hotch answered and carefully studied her for any indication that she wouldn't be able to handle the revelation. Since Morgan had informed him of her meltdown, he'd kept an eye on her to watch for significant changes in her mood and behaviour, and from what he could tell, she was handling it fairly.

"Then how do we proceed?" Emily tried to think of something else. She couldn't let the guilt get to her. "We don't know where he took him or how long time we have to save him. The only thing we have is an estimated time of when Morgan was taken."

"Then that's what we work with," Hotch announced. "JJ, call Garcia and have her trace the number the text to Prentiss was sent from. Also, have her pull the surveillance video from the time Morgan disappeared and tell her to run the credit cards of everyone paying at the diner approximately when Morgan made his purchase."

JJ nodded and stepped away to make the call.

"I'll call it in and will be staying here, supervising the search of evidence. We can't risk anything going wrong right now. I want Prentiss and Dave to interview the diner's staff and the guests. Reid, I want you back at the station to work on a geographical profile. Start thinking outside the box, he must have some sort of comfort zone we can work with. You can hitch a ride with one of the arriving officers back to the station, the same goes for you two-" Hotch pointed at Emily and Rossi. "-once you've finished the interviews."

Emily and Rossi instantly began walking across the parking lot towards the diner. Reid, who had to wait for the officers to arrive before he could begin his task, hurried after them thinking that he could help out with the interviews while he waited.

Rossi held the door open for Emily and Reid as they walked inside. When stepping inside, their stomachs growled as the smell of food reached them. Rossi found himself thinking that they could buy some food to bring back to the station. They would never be able to focus on finding Morgan with growling stomachs.

They walked up to the counter and on their way there Emily observed that most of the tables were empty. That would make the chance of finding a reliable witness slim.

"What can I do for you, Dear?"

Emily realised the woman had spoken to her so she shifted her gaze from the tables to the older looking woman behind the counter who was greeting her with a kind smile.

She reached for her badge and held it up for the woman to study. "We would like to ask you some questions regarding a kidnapping that occurred on the parking lot approximately an hour ago."

"Oh, dear God!" The woman had a hard time believing something so horrible had happened just outside where she worked.

"Were you working at that time?" Emily asked. She had the small note pad and a pen ready in her hand to write down what the woman said.

"Yes, I've been here since early this morning but I'm sorry to say that I can't be of much help. I didn't even know about the abduction until you stepped inside and told me about it."

"Sometimes the things you think are irrelevant are the most important," Emily said knowing how many times something a witness thought was nothing had been the most valuable lead.

"Well, ask your questions and I might be of more help than I think I will."

Rossi, sensing that Emily had everything under control with the lady, grabbed Reid and walked over to a table where two guests sat.

"Excuse me for disturbing your meal but we were wondering if we might be able to ask you a few questions? We're from the FBI," Rossi said and showed the man and the woman sitting at the table his credentials.

"What business do the FBI have here?" the man asked in surprise.

"There has been a kidnapping out in the parking lot not too long ago," Rossi supplied.

"How can we help?" the woman instantly asked, worry etched in her voice.

"We would very much appreciate if you could spare us a few minutes to answer our questions," Rossi said.

"Anything we can do to help," the man said and put his napkin down on the table after wiping his mouth.

* * *

As JJ had stepped aside she had dialled Garcia knowing what to expect.

The Technical Analyst answered on the second ring. _"Have you found my baby?"_

"Sorry, Pen," JJ answered. "We need your help to look at some surveillance footage and running down a number."

"_Why? What's going on over there?" _

"We think our UnSub might have kidnapped Morgan," JJ confessed. She knew how much worry that information would cause Garcia but she couldn't lie to her.

A loud gasp sounded on the other side of the line followed by her anxious voice told JJ that the worry had already set in. _"My Chocolate Thunder!" _

"We'll get him back," JJ assured her.

"_I hate Utah and what it does to my babies,"_ Garcia uttered. _"Give me the information I need and I'll find this creep for you."_

JJ supplied Garcia with the number and the street names of where she should look up the footage.

"_The search is running,"_ Garcia informed JJ.

"Hotch also wanted you to check who bought anything at the diner around the same time as Morgan did."

"_Hacking into the diner's system as we speak."_

"Maybe you shouldn't say that aloud," JJ reminded her.

"_Don't worry your pretty little head about it." _After pressing a few more keys Garcia had the answer the Hotch's question._ "I have a purchase made just a few minutes after Morgan made his. The credit card and the number you gave me are written on the same address," _Garcia quipped.

"Doesn't that seem a little too easy?" JJ questioned.

"_I agree with you but maybe he got sloppy?" _

"He's been so cautious about everything before, I don't understand why he would be spreading bread crumbs all around now."

"_Maybe he wants you to find him," _Garcia voiced.

"Maybe," JJ mumbled. "I better get back to Hotch now, call if you have anything?"

"_You know it. Stay safe!"_

"You too," JJ answered and ended the call.

She walked back to Hotch who was currently talking to the newly arrived Detective Moore.

"I'll put my best men and women on it." JJ heard Detective Moore assure Hotch.

"I appreciate it," Hotch answered. "Garcia found anything?" he asked JJ as he saw her approach.

"The number the text was sent from is registered to the same address as one of the credit cards used at the diner around the same time Morgan was here."

"Sounds a little too easy," Hotch remarked.

"That's what I said too," JJ agreed. "Then Garcia said something that got me thinking, what if he wants us to find him?"

JJ watched Hotch ponder her comment. His facial expression turned into a frown and he got that distant look he usually gets when he was thinking about something very important.

"That's something worth considering."

Just as Hotch spoke, Reid, Rossi and Emily emerged from the diner and walked up to them.

"What have you found out?" Hotch asked as they came to stand next to him and JJ.

"The woman manning the cash register remembered Morgan once I showed her his picture. She also remembers an older looking man sitting at a table for a few minutes too long without touching the food he ordered. Which he ordered as take-away," Emily told him.

"It wouldn't surprise me if that's our UnSub," Hotch commented. He also told them about Garcia's findings.

"That's bold," Rossi remarked.

"JJ and I have a theory that he wants to be found," Hotch said.

"How did you come up with that?" Emily questioned.

"It was actually Garcia who came up with it," JJ said.

"She's a smart one," Rossi said and nodded slightly.

"How about you, did you guys find anything of importance?" JJ asked Rossi and Reid.

"Most of the customers were so engrossed in their meals that they forgot to pay any attention to what was going on around them. But there was one man in his eighties, sitting by the windows, who thought he saw something. He said he had seen a black man talking to another man out in the parking lot," Rossi answered.

"A girl I talked to said she thought she had seen a super hot dude walk inside the diner but she never saw him after he left," Reid said.

"I guess she's talking about Morgan," JJ smiled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Rossi replied.

That's when the gathering ran out of things to talk about and fell silent.

"How do we proceed?" Emily broke the silence.

"I'll stay here until they've finished processing the crime scene and then I'll meet you back at the station," Hotch decided. "Forget what I said about rides earlier. Here, take the car. I'll ride back with Detective Moore."

Rossi caught the keys Hotch had thrown at him with ease and gave him a slight nod before walking to the car. The others followed him in a straight line with determined steps. They would solve this, no matter what.

* * *

Morgan had spent the last hours trying to come up with an escape plan. He had thought out a plan that might work but he still had one major problem, he had no idea how he would break free from his restrains.

His hands were tied together by a rope which was also tied around the meathook he was hanging from. He had tried to untie them but failed miserably each time and it had only resulted in an even tighter knot.

His hands had gone numb after the fourth attempt and now the pins and needles were traveling down his arms. Sometime in the near future, his arms would go numb too. His shoulders ached from staying in the same position for too long and Morgan had given up on finding a way to ease the pain, which was what he could only describe as excruciating.

As if the pain in his arms wasn't enough, another thing that was really bothering him was his trouble to breathe. The position he was in made each breath very painful. If it wasn't for his feet touching the ground he would've already died from asphyxiation by now. His own weight would've pulled down on his ribcage and made inhalation almost impossible, a little fun fact Morgan had learned from Reid after listening to one of his rambling sessions.

He tried to use his legs to push up himself to ease the breathing and was just about to once again go over his plan in his head when the heavy, and only, door he had spotted hours earlier slowly opened.

Morgan squinted his eyes to get a better look at whoever had opened it. Unfortunately he could only see the dark silhouette of a man because of the light coming from the other side of the door that was blinding his eyes. Even though he could only make out a shadow Morgan had no doubt it was his captor.

The dark figure pushed the door closed behind him and started walking towards his hanging captive.

As the door closed and Morgan's eyes adjusted to the darkness that once again filled the room he got a better look at the man who had entered. It was the same man that had stopped him on the parking lot outside the diner. It was the bastard that had tranquillised him.

And that's when Morgan remembered why he had looked familiar the first time he met him, it was from the photos of their UnSubs. He looked older and had longer hair by now but Morgan was sure it was him.

He was just about to express his anger towards the man when he stopped himself. It was better to wait for the man to speak. Hopefully he would continue speaking long enough for Morgan to get a read on him and see if the profile they had given him was right. If not, he would have to come up with a new one to be able to get out of this mess alive. He had realised that his only option to survive was to outsmart his captor, and that he could only do with a working profile.

Morgan kept his mouth shut and watched the man approach with great intensity. Every movement the man made, Morgan saw. Every little facial expression, Morgan detected. He had his eyes locked on the man and the man had his eyes locked on Morgan.

As they stared into each others' eyes, Morgan once again noticed his captor's very blue eyes. Bright, blue eyes that looked harmless at first but the longer you stared into them, the more evil you saw.

The man reached Morgan but instead of speaking to him he began circling him, exactly like a lion circles its prey.

Even though the action made Morgan nervous he never showed any sign of it. He thought about his breathing. Even breaths, in and out, in and out. It hurt but it was worth it.

He also tried to relax his muscles so that the man walking around him wouldn't think he was bothered by the action, but he still used his legs to keep pushing himself upwards. His choice to do this was based on simple human nature. Living creatures usually tense up when they feel threatened, they go into fight or flight mode. Morgan hoped that his regular breathing and relaxed muscles, or as relaxed as they could get given the position he was in, would fool his captor into thinking that he wasn't affected by his presence.

Maybe the show Morgan put on worked, or maybe it didn't. Either way the man began to speak after having walked two rounds around the agent.

"How have you been enjoying my little game?"

Morgan chose not to answer. He was testing how long he could keep up the silence without enraging the man.

Apparently not for long Morgan concluded as a fist slammed into his abdomen. The air escaped his lungs and he drew deep breaths to fill them with new air.

"I said, how have you been enjoying my little game?"

Morgan debated whether or not he should ignore his question again. If he did he would most likely be the substitute for a punching bag again and if he didn't he might be able to talk some valuable information out of the man. He settled on talking, his plan to escape would be much easier to go through with if he didn't have any broken ribs.

"Impressive. Never seen anything like it before." Morgan decided that it was better to flatter the man than to make him angry.

"If that's your opinion then what's about to happen next will blow you mind, literally," the man laughed.

Maybe he shouldn't have complimented him...

"But first, before I tell you about my next spectacular act, I have a question."

Morgan remained quiet and waited for the UnSub to ask his question.

He didn't have to wait for long.

"Do you know why you're here?"

_Because you brought me here against my will!_ Morgan thought but what he ended up saying was something completely different, and less sarcastic. "No, I don't."

"You are here because that pretty little partner of yours can't do anything else but to mess with my plans!" the man shouted.

The room was filled with the sound of the man's heavy breathing as he took a few calming breaths.

"You're also here because you're the bait," the man said and studied Morgan's face.

_The bait?_ Morgan thought as his forehead knotted in confusion. _The bait for what?_

"Oh, I see my revelation has you a bit confused. Maybe you'll understand it better if I put it like this. You're the bait for the rest of your team. Once they get here there will be no turning back," the UnSub smiled wickedly. "You see the thing is, everywhere around this place I've put out nice little packages of rather large bombs. Once your team has arrived to save you, all I have to do is press this tiny, tiny button here." He fished out a small device with a small red button on it from the inside of his pocket and showed Morgan.

"You son of bitch!" Morgan snarled and lifted his legs to give him a kick even though it would probably keep him from breathing. The UnSub predicated the attack and stepped back just in time for Morgan to miss. A mixed sound of frustration and pain escaped Morgan's lips as he did. His choice to throw his legs at the man had resulted in the sensation of getting his arms dislocated and for a few minutes the only thing Morgan was aware of was that searing pain.

The man made no comment about Morgan's outburst but continued to tell him what would happen when the team got there.

"When I have all of your cop friends inside the building we can start the barbecue."

As Morgan managed to look up from his cloud of pain he saw the man's face covered in sickening smile.

"Perhaps I should give Emily a call, telling her where we're at?" the man said and replaced the controller in his hand with a phone. "See, I have her phone number right here."

The man held his phone close to Morgan. The familiar number invaded his vision and he immediately recognised it as Emily's.

When recognition covered Morgan's face, the UnSub lowered the phone and turned the screen towards himself. His thumb went to the call button but stopped midway as Morgan's angry voice erupted the silence in the room.

"Leave your finger off that button!" he screamed. Even though he knew he was helpless in stopping the man from pressing down, he couldn't keep himself from letting the anger show.

"And how do you plan on stopping me?"

The UnSub knew Morgan wouldn't be able to do much hence to the situation he was in, tied up and hanging from the ceiling, and found pleasure in taunting him.

Morgan threw himself back and forth, tried to put as much weight on the restrains as possible, anything to break free. It didn't help at all, it only increased the already horrible pain he was in.

The man laughed at his attempts. "Didn't think so." He brought his thumb down towards the button again but stopped when he realised the mistake he was about commit. He put the phone back in his pocket and left Morgan alone in the room.

Morgan's confusion about what was going on grew as the man didn't return until several minutes later.

"Can't risk you spilling your guts about my plan when I'm on the phone, can I?" the man said and showed Morgan the roll of duct tape he had retrieved.

In five long strides the man was at Morgan's side and had slammed a piece of tape over his mouth. Everything went so fast that Morgan didn't have the time to react and pull away before it was too late.

"There we go," the man said and took a step back to admire his work.

Morgan twisted his head and tried to rub it against his arm to get rid of the tape but it stayed put.

"Now, I think it's time for that phone call I was talking about."

Morgan swore at him as he watched the man press down on his phone. Morgan realised he had put the call on speaker as he was able to hear the signals.

She picked up on the fourth ring.

"_Agent Emily Prentiss," _she answered. Morgan could hear the hesitant tone in her voice when she spoke. He tried to alert her by screaming but it only came out as muffled sounds. Morgan doubted Emily could hear him.

"Hello, dear Emily. Guess who it is?"

"_You, bastard!" _

Morgan stopped what he was doing and stayed quiet to be able to listen to the conversation.

"I guess you can call me that if you'd like," the man mused.

"_Where's Morgan?" _Emily demanded to know.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. He's right here with me."

"_Is that suppose to make me feel better?"_ Emily snarled. _"What do you want?" _Her tone was firm and Morgan could hear the determination.

"I'm turning myself in," the UnSub told her.

Morgan's reaction to those words were very loud. He was trying to tell her not to believe a shit of what this prick said. Morgan didn't care that he would die, as long as that meant the rest of the team would still be alive. If the UnSub lured them to this place they would all be dead, all except Garcia who would never be the same again after learning about her precious friends' deaths.

"_Morgan?" _

"Shut up!" the man told Morgan. "I can't have a conversation whit you screaming in the background."

Morgan totally ignored his comment and kept making as much noise as he could.

"Geez, he's a loud one. I'm sorry, Doll, but I can't hear you. Just hang on for a minute while I step out of the room." With those words the man started to walk towards the door.

Morgan watched as the door opened and closed. Because of the tape covering his mouth, he could only breathe through his nose and that wasn't enough to make up for the air he was losing while screaming at the man. The outburst ended with black spots invading his vision and a spinning sensation in his head as if he was about to pass out.

He could no longer hear what was being said and cursed himself for it. Now he had no chance in effecting the outcome of the phone call.

He allowed himself to breathe until the spots had began to disappeared and then he forced himself to breath less loudly to try to hear through the door what was being said, but he came up empty handed.

Morgan had no clue to how long time had passed since the UnSub left the room when he watched the door open slowly. The man stepped inside with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Now, all we have to do is wait. And while we wait, let's have some fun," he said and for the first time since the man returned Morgan saw that he held something in his hand.

_What was it?_ Morgan squinted his eyes to see but it didn't help since the light coming from the other room practically blinded him, again. He had his suspicions to what it might be though but couldn't confirm any of them.

Then the light from the other side of the door landed on the object and the reflection hit him in his eyes.

After that, there was no question about it. His captor had brought back a knife.

* * *

_A/N: Bombs, a trap to lure the team and a knife. That doesn't sound too good. Let's see how it plays out in the next chapter. Vi ses! (it's Swedish for 'See you!' for those of you who don't know Swedish ;) )_


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: A bomb, a trap and a knife. That's where we left off. Let's see what happens next._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

They were in the middle of discussing Morgan's abduction when her phone rang. With a small protest from her sore body Emily reached for it and put it to her ear.

"Agent Emily Prentiss,"she answered in a neutral voice.

"_Hello, dear Emily. Guess who it is?"_

"You, bastard!"

It was him again! It was that piece of shit who had kidnapped her partner! Her outburst attracted the others' attention. They abandoned what they were doing and looked at Emily, waiting for her to reveal what had caused her anger.

"_I guess you can call me that if you'd like,"_ the man mused.

His casual tone only made Emily even more pissed.

"Where's Morgan?"she demanded to know in a hostile voice.

"_Don't worry, Sweetheart. He's right here with me."_

"Is that suppose to make me feel better?" Emily snarled. It didn't calm her nerves a bit. "What do you want?"

"_I'm turning myself in,"_ the UnSub told her.

What did he mean by that? Why would he turn himself in when he had gotten away with everything he'd done so far? It didn't make any sense at all.

In the background Emily heard something that she couldn't quite make out but after a while she realised it must be Morgan.

"Morgan?" Emily asked and hoped that he would answer to confirm her suspicions but it didn't turn out as she had hoped.

"_Shut up!"_ she heard the man say. Emily thought that if her guess was right, that it was indeed Morgan who was making the sound, the words were meant for him and not for her.

"_I can't have a conversation with you screaming in the background_," the man then shouted.

From what Emily could hear, whoever was making the noise didn't stop. It only increased and probably made the man even more pissed off.

"_Geez, he's a loud one. I'm sorry, Doll, but I can't hear you. Just hang on for a minute while I step out of the room." _

"Who is that?" Emily asked as she leaned forward in her chair.

"_That's better," _the man voiced as the sound faded. _"Now where were we? Oh, that's right! I was telling you how to come and get me. I'm bored of this game and I'm thinking about switching my playground, maybe to the jail? I hear there's a lot of fun going on in there."_

"What made you give up now? I thought this was what you've planned for all along," Emily pushed on.

"_Meh, it's time for a change. But, I'm going to give you guys one last chance of proving your intelligence. I hope you have a pen and paper nearby because I'm only going to say this once."_

As soon as the man mentioned the words pen and paper, Emily started gesturing to her colleagues for something to write with and on. Reid quickly supplied her with it and as the UnSub began to speak, the pen scribbled across the blank page.

"_I hope to see you soon!" _the man they knew as Stuart Lockwood said and ended the call.

"What did you write down?" Reid asked curiously.

Emily turned the notepad around so that they wouldn't have to read it upside down and slid it over to the middle of the table.

There in blue ink were different numbers that Emily had written down.

"Why did you write down those numbers?" JJ questioned and looked up at Emily with a confused frown.

"It was the UnSub calling. He told me to write down what he was saying and to prove to him that we're as smart as we apparently say we are," Emily answered and stared at the numbers.

There were two larger numbers followed by a few decimals each and at the moment it didn't make any sense to any of the agents.

"Let me take a look at those," Hotch said and reached for the paper.

Emily handed it over to him and then ran her hands through her hair. She was frustrated. The number obviously meant something important but they were all lost.

"What else did he say to you?" JJ questioned and turned to the dark haired agent.

"He said he was turning himself in but that we should come and get him."

All the profilers but Hotch, who was focusing on the piece of paper he had in his hand, looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Turning himself in?" Rossi said in disbelief.

"That's what he said," Emily confirmed. "And when I asked him about it he said it was time for an environmental change."

"This behaviour doesn't fit the profile," Reid mumbled and stared down at the table while running over the facts in his head.

"I don't know what's going on but he gave me those numbers and told me to hurry up," Emily said as she leaned forward. "Hotch, you getting anything out of that?"

"I'm not sure," Hotch said thoughtfully. "It's not a phone number because of the decimals. Neither is it an address."

Reid, who was seated next to the team leader, leaned over his shoulder to get a better look of the numbers.

Hotch felt his presence and glanced back at the man hanging over his shoulder. He then put the paper down on the table in front of him so that Reid could see it better.

Reid adjusted back in his chair and awkwardly straightened out his shirt. He then moved on to studying the numbers. "It could be a code of some sort," he thought aloud.

"A code for what?" JJ asked.

"Well, the numbers could represent letters or they could mean something that only makes sense to the UnSub. Or they're just numbers," Reid answered.

"So, you're telling us that it's either an encrypted word, something only Lockwood knows about or just simple numbers?" Emily summoned up.

"Yeah," Reid said and looked at her sitting across the table.

"I like Hotch's theory better," Emily sighed. "Can I take a look at it again?"

Hotch complied and handed her the paper. She put it down on the table and tried turning it in different angles, hoping that it would bring out some kind of idea of what the numbers might mean. Emily thought the structure of the numbers looked familiar. She had written them down as he said them, making a little blank space whenever the UnSub paused and so on, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She lifted the piece of paper so that the light shone through it. That's when it hit her. It was coordinates!

During one of the summers she had spent with her grandfather, he had taught her how to read coordinates. She remembered how she couldn't see what was written on the paper he had given her and telling him so. He had then told her to hold it up to the sun. She had done as she was told and then she saw it. It was the action of holding the paper up to the lamp that triggered her memory.

"It's coordinates!" she exclaimed. "I'm almost certain of it."

"Call Garcia and have her run those coordinates," Hotch told her.

Emily quickly dialled the number and didn't even wait for Garcia to greet her before she spoke.

"I need you to run these coordinates for me," Emily said and rambled off the numbers.

Emily waited as she heard Garcia pressing the keys of her keyboard.

"_They gave me an old slaughterhouse,"_ Garcia said in a horrified voice.

"A slaughterhouse," Emily told the others. She had no idea why she hadn't put the call on speaker yet so she did.

"Give us the address, Garcia," Hotch said promptly.

Garcia quickly told him the address that had popped up on her computer screen after she had run the numbers. She also sent it to them so that they didn't have to manually punch it into their GPS.

"Everyone put on a vest and then meet up by the cars. I'm going to tell Moore we know where we're starting our search," Hotch said and walked out of the room.

"Bye, PG," Emily said and picked up her phone from the table as she rose.

"_Bye, my babies. Be safe! And bring my Chocolate Adonis home in one piece!"_

Emily said she would and then let her phone slip into her back pocket after ending the call. She hurried after the others as they left the conference room to put on vests.

_Shit's about to go down_, Emily thought as she strapped the bullet proof vest to her body and pulled her dark hair back in a ponytail.

* * *

No sirens. No flashing lights. They were going to arrive quietly and then take him down. They would save their agent and they would all be going home in one piece.

They jumped out of the cars before they had even stopped. Their vests were on and their guns were in their hands. They had paired up before they arrived to save time and now they all assembled in a circle to go over the procedure one last time before moving into their respective position.

Given the danger of bombs inside the building, they had decided to let the bomb squad enter first and do a quick sweep before any other force was to enter. The preliminary search gave them three bombs in a small house located on the west side of the slaughterhouse. The man in command gave the police force clearance to enter the main building but also warned them of bombs that might not have shown up during the initial search. As the bomb technicians moved to eliminate the located threat, the agents made themselves ready.

Emily had been paired with Rossi and they were about to go in from the east. A brief walk-through of the plan and then they were moving into position. Once they reached the door, Emily took point and nodded for Rossi to open the door. Without causing any sound, the door opened once Rossi turned the doorknob. Emily had no time to comment on the opened door but brought up her gun and stepped inside. Rossi closely followed her as she got embraced by the darkness inside.

When they had entered, they ended up in a long corridor with two doors on each side. The darkness was both their enemy and their friend. It was easier for them to move around unseen in the dark but it was also harder for them to spot their UnSub or any other threat that might be lurking inside.

Emily walked passed the first door with her gun trained forward. Rossi walked two steps behind her feeling the handles. His hand turned the first metal handle. Door number one. Locked.

They kept moving. Silently, cautiously and expertly they moved. They had done this many times before and they both knew what to do without communicating with each other.

They passed door number two. Locked.

Door number three. Locked.

Door number four. Locked.

The corridor was secured.

The hallway turned to their right and they turned the corner like they had so many times before, gun in position and a quick step around.

Nothing out of the ordinary met them once they had turned the corner.

What they saw though were three more doors. Once again Emily began moving down the hall and Rossi followed.

They passed door number five. Locked.

They were now passing door number six. Open.

Rossi silently called for Emily's attention by tapping her shoulder lightly and then they made themselves ready. He counted down with his fingers and when he was down to zero, they stepped inside.

The room was dark and silent. Nothing moved and no one breathed. After the first inspection of the room showed them no sign of movement, they began the more thorough search.

They each cleared a side of the room. Rossi took the right and Emily the left. They came up with nothing. The room looked like it hadn't been used for ages. Dust was covering every surface: the shelves, the pipes on the walls, the walls themselves, the ceiling and the floor. It was everywhere, except for one spot. Rossi was just about to leave the room behind Emily when voids in the dust caught his attention. He reached out for her so that she could look at it too.

Emily stepped back inside the dusty room and followed Rossi's finger with her eyes until they reached the voids. After she had seen it, she looked up and met his eyes. She could see they were both thinking the same thing. Those voids looked very much like footprints and they both knew neither of them had stepped behind that shelf. That meant someone had been in here not too long ago.

This new information made the adrenaline in their veins run faster. They now had confirmation of life at the scene, or at least recent life at the scene.

They walked out of the room and closed the door behind them as they stepped back into the dark corridor.

They looked in both directions of the corridor to make sure no one had entered while they were in the room. No one had.

Now it was only one door left before the corridor made another turn, but this time it looked like the turn was to the left.

One step at a time they neared the seventh and final door that they knew of.

Rossi's hand settled on the handle and gave it a slow and smooth twist. One push and the door was open.

Emily stepped quickly inside and Rossi turning the corner just in time to watch her go down.

* * *

He hadn't heard them arrive. Neither had he heard them as they began the search. It was actually really hard to hear something over the sound of his blood pounding in his ears and his small, rapid breaths that became more painful for each minute that passed.

He barely felt the pain from the cuts anymore. Morgan thought that it had become a constant after the twelfth time the knife had pierced his skin. Now the pain felt like it had always been there, that it was a feeling that he had been born with. It didn't feel like it didn't belong with him. It was just there and he didn't even take any notice of it anymore.

Or at least that's what he thought until he watched the door open and his partner getting shot.

Morgan's veins froze and he would be damned if his heart did not skip a beat. Then the other pain was back, but this time it wasn't physical.

The shot that had been fired by the man standing behind him, holding Morgan as a human shield to protect himself against whatever was coming through the door that Morgan had chosen as his escape route.

As the initial shock had faded, the muffled sound of Morgan calling out Emily's name broke the silence that had been hanging in the room since the shot hit her.

Morgan watched as Rossi moved to bend down, eyes and gun trained on the UnSub, to check on Emily who was lying a few feet ahead on him. The agent only made it halfway before Lockwood barked at him to get away from her. Rossi had no other choice but to do as he was told.

Morgan then collected all the strength he had left to deliver one firm kick to the man's shin. Morgan heard him hiss in pain as his boot connected with the sensitive skin and satisfaction filled his body for a millisecond but it didn't make up for the pain he felt watching his partner falling to the floor or the fact that the action almost made him pass out.

He blinked away as many of the black spots as he could and then kept his eyes trained on his partner's chest to see if she was still breathing, to see if she was still alive, but he couldn't detect any movement from her.

Every excruciating second that her chest didn't move was almost more than he could handle. She couldn't be dead. He hadn't seen where the bullet hit her but she couldn't be dead.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. He chest still didn't move.

Four seconds. Five seconds. It moved!

She breathed. He waited for her next intake of breath before he allowed himself to think that she was still alive. For now at least. If the bullet had hit any of her major arteries she would be dead within minutes.

It was too dark in the room for him to see if there was any blood around her so he couldn't tell if she was lying there bleeding out or if her bullet proof vest had taken the bullet.

Either way, it wasn't until he had established that his partner was still alive that he noticed the assembly of people entering the room. The people entering took a second to analyze the situation and one of the men was just about to do what Rossi had intended to do earlier, check on Emily, when Lockwood once again shouted at them to back off.

The man rose and then there were four men and one woman, four of them belonging to his team, with their guns aimed at him. Well, they weren't exactly aiming at him, they were aiming at the UnSub hiding behind him. Morgan guessed the sound of the gunshot had made it clear to them where the UnSub was hiding out and then they had ran to it.

The four men and the one woman were caught in a standoff with the man who had caused them so much trouble these last couple of days. And the only thing stopping them from taking the bastard out was him, Derek Morgan, caught in the middle.

* * *

Breathing hurt. Her head hurt. Her stomach hurt. When she tried to move, it hurt. Everything hurt.

She tried to take a breath but failed. She tried again and again and just as the panic was about to set in, air filled her lungs. It hurt like hell but it was worth it. She kept taking small, careful and very painful breaths. As she did a voice broke through her cloud of pain and Emily heard Rossi speak.

"I can't get a clean shot."

Frustration, distress and determination could be heard in his voice and Emily knew his posture reflected the exact same thing without even seeing him behind her closed eyelids.

Emily pried her eyes open and had to squeeze them shut again as the nausea rolled over her. She concluded that she probably had a concussion. _Great_, she thought wryly. _Just what I needed, another one to add to my list of injuries sustained in Utah. _

She made a second attempt at opening her eyes and this time she could keep them open, even though the nausea was still there. With great caution she observed the scene taking place around her.

What first caught her attention was Morgan. He was hanging from a meat hook connected to the ceiling. His hands were tied together and his feet barely touched the ground as he hung. His clothes were torn and his chest exposed. And he looked exhausted. Because of his torn clothes, she had a clear view of the newly made cuts on his chest. The anger in her rose. The bastard had sliced and diced her partner! He would _not _get away with it easily.

Emily suppressed her rage and continued to observe the scene with as objective eyes as she could. Behind Morgan stood Stuart Lockwood, the man guilty of killing five people and kidnapping three others. Images of Samantha Winters, Tom Scully, Nick Ice, Carmichael Smith, Charlotte Banks, Emelie Johnson and Danny Bentley flashed by in front of her eyes. Seven innocent people who had become victims of this sick man's game.

Her partner was the eighth victim and she refused to let him end up like the first five.

The UnSub was holding Morgan in a manner that made it almost impossible for the agents she knew had their guns trained on him to shoot. If she tilted her head backwards and rolled her eyes up, she could see her beloved team.

Their faces were full of concentration. They were all focused on the man hiding behind Morgan and Emily knew for a fact that they hadn't noticed her moving. Rossi had started to try to negotiate with the man but it seemed like a waste of time because the man only ignored him. Every one of the agents had their weapons drawn and Emily watched as they eased their hold for a millisecond to improve the grip they had on the guns.

Speaking of guns, where had hers disappeared to when she went down from the damn gunshot? She knew she had had it in her hand when she entered the room and now it was missing from her grasp.

It was with great effort she twisted her head from side to side, hoping that she would spot her missing weapon. Her head pounded and the ache kept making her nauseous but she pushed the thoughts of it as far back in her mind as she could, nothing was allowed to distract her right now. Tilting her head up hadn't hurt as much as it did when she moved it from side to side, probably because the movement aggravated the goose egg she had at the back of her head which she had most definitely sustained from the fall.

After slowly tilting her head from side to side, up and down she finally found it.

It was placed not too far away from her and she thought that maybe if she reached out for it she could grab on to it.

She extended her arm as far as she could and felt her fingertips touch the Glock. _Damn! _she silently swore as she didn't manage to fully reach it. She then tried sliding as slowly and soundlessly as she could, still lying on her back, a few inches at a time towards it.

There! She let her hand embrace the grip and slowly let her arm move back to resting along the side of her body.

"Drop it!"

Emily froze. Had she been caught?

She let her eyes travel to the UnSub which she knew the words had come from.

No, she hadn't been caught but what she saw made her tense up even more. Along with the gun the UnSub was holding against Morgan's head, he had brought up a small device Emily could only assume was some kind of detonator based on the red button placed in the middle of it. The man's thumb lingered only centimeters above it and was slowly closing in on the button. That was also when she noticed her clear view of the man.

What Emily did next wasn't thought through. She didn't have time for that. She only acted on pure instinct. Screw the pain, screw the nausea and screw her aching muscles. She was going to save them all from getting blow to pieces.

In one rapid and forceful motion she levelled herself up into a sitting position and the moment she did, she saw the UnSub shifting his gun her way and his eyes bore into hers. She stared back at him and moved her finger to squeeze the trigger the moment she watched Lockwood doing the same.

A deafening shot rang out in the building and stunned them all.

* * *

_A/N: Yikes! Another shot. The question that remains is who fired it? I'll let you know next time ;)_


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I'm guessing you guys don't want me to talk much so I won't. Go on and read!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

The shot Emily fired hit the UnSub with a force that had him stumbling backwards. He released the grip he had on Morgan and fell to the floor. He also let go of the detonator, which ended up a few feet away from where he landed, as he brought his hands to where the bullet had hit him.

The agents standing by the door lowered their aim to the man bleeding and grunting on the floor.

"I've got him," Rossi said and began walking towards the UnSub as he saw Hotch looking worriedly at Emily.

"I'll take Prentiss," Hotch announced and holstered his weapon as he hurried to where she was once again on her back on the floor. "Call another ambulance!" he shouted back to Detective Moore as he moved away.

JJ watched her team members take action before she herself spurred into action. "You got a knife?" she asked Moore because she was planning on using it to free Morgan from his restraints.

Detective Moore nodded with his phone pressed to his ear, calling for an ambulance. He then gave her the pocket knife he kept in his left pocket before the phone operator picked up and started asking him questions.

With the knife in hand, JJ signalled for Reid to follow her. As she and Reid hurried towards Morgan they both sent worried glances Emily's way. They had both heard her groan in pain after the bullet had left her gun and they both wondered how badly injured she was.

The duo had now reached Morgan and JJ yanked the tape off his mouth as soon as she got close enough. When the tape was off his mouth, Morgan immediately tried to take deep breaths to get as much oxygen as possible.

"How's Prentiss?" he choked out and glanced anxiously her way as he struggled to fill his lungs with air. After the shot had hit its intended target, he had seen her twist in pain and fall back on to the floor.

"I don't know," JJ confessed in a worried tone as she tried to reach for his restrained hands. She couldn't make herself tall enough to reach them and neither could Reid which ended with JJ searching the room for something to stand on.

"The place- is rigged- with bombs." Morgan struggled with the words but his message came through loud and clear.

JJ and Reid looked urgently at each other, they needed to get out of the building, quick!

"Do they have a timer like the others?" Reid asked gazing up at Morgan, feeling bad for making his friend talk while knowing how hard it must be for him.

"I- don't- know," he choked out, squeezing his eyes shut and rolling back his head in agony.

"Okay, hold on a minute. We'll get you down and out of here," JJ said as she hurried across the room to the wooden box she had spotted just seconds earlier.

As JJ ran off, Reid delivered the newly gained information about the bombs to Hotch and Rossi. Both men acknowledged his message with a short verbal response. Hotch then heard him told the other men and women who had arrived to start evacuating everybody from the building.

JJ didn't acknowledge any of this though as she was too focused on dragging the wooden box across the room as fast as she could. When she had accomplished the task of moving it, she climbed on top of it but not before she had placed it near enough for her to reach the ropes binding Morgan to the meat hook.

"Reid, you got him?" she called and looked down at the agent.

"I think so," Reid answered as he adjusted his grip on Morgan one last time.

JJ was just about to start cutting the rope when Officer Hale came running towards the trio. She waited until he had copied Reid on the hold he had on the injured agent.

"I'll cut the rope now," JJ said after Hale had found a steady grip around Morgan and then she carefully began moving the knife back and forth on the rope, concentrating on not cutting her friend by accident.

Down on the ground Reid and Hale made themselves ready to help stabilise Morgan and to hoist him down once he was free.

The moment JJ had cut through the rope and removed it, Morgan's feet hit the floor while screaming in pain.

His numb legs refused to work and the pain he was put through as his arms were falling down to his sides was almost unbearable. Thankfully, JJ was quick to jump down from the box and to hold his arms above his head to save him from some of the pain.

Together JJ, Hale and Reid helped him down to the floor and placed Morgan on his back with his arms resting on the ground above his head. His dark skin shone with sweat and his chest moved quickly as he fought for air. When they had put him down and made sure that the position he was in didn't aggravate his pain, Reid and JJ carefully started examine his wounds as they waited for the paramedics to arrive.

* * *

As Rossi reached the UnSub, by now known as Stuart Lockwood, their eyes immediately met. He stared down at the killer with disgust. So many lives had been taken and traumatised because this man's failed attempt to get into the Academy. The reasoning behind criminals' actions still surprised him, even after all these years with the unit.

The bullet had hit Lockwood somewhere in the abdomen close to his ribs and his hands that were pressing down on the wound quickly turned crimson, so did the floor beneath him. Rossi had seen it many times before, the life of a man leaving his body, and even though Rossi knew the man had almost no chance of surviving because of his rapid blood loss, he still kicked the UnSub's weapon away, holstered his own gun and bent down to apply pressure on the wound.

The man groaned as Rossi pressed down. A trail of blood ran from his mouth and only a minute passed before he took his last breath, but before he did he turned his head sideways and smiled a grotesque smile at something Rossi couldn't see from his angle. It wasn't until afterwards that he saw it.

After Rossi watched the life fade from the man's eyes, he wiped his hands on his pants and then let his own eyes travel in the direction the man had looked when he took his last breath. What his eyes landed on was Emily, motionless on the floor, getting the extent of her injuries examined by Hotch.

* * *

Emily was on the floor, forcefully shutting her eyes to block out everything else so that she could concentrate on dealing with the pain. Her sit-up had jarred the pain from getting shot and she refused to pass out from it. She tried taking deep breaths but it only worsened the pain so she ended up taking small, quick ones.

The nausea she had felt before had also increased as she had delivered the shot and she was forced to swallow bile that kept rising in her throat. She fought against both as she felt someone place a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Prentiss?" Hotch said as he observed the bullet hole in her vest.

He wasn't sure if the vest had taken the bullet or if it had pierced her skin.

"Prentiss, did the bullet go through the vest?"

Emily recognised the voice and knew Hotch was talking to her but she couldn't hear what he was saying.

Since he was met with no answer Hotch studied her for any sign that the vest hadn't worked. He could see she was in a lot of pain, which was what to expect in either scenario, with or without a bullet hole.

Her hands were clenched into fists placed on each side of her body and her forehead was sweaty. She had once again released her gun and it was now placed next to her. He heard her take laboured breaths and from her tensed expression he knew she was still conscious. He saw no blood, nothing on her or on the floor beneath her which lead him to suspect that the vest had done its job, but he still couldn't be sure.

He asked her his question again but the result was the same as last time, no answer. If she couldn't answer him he would have to find out the answer on his own.

"Emily, I'm going to remove the vest to examine your abdomen," Hotch said in a controlled voice and hoped that his usage of her first name would make her hear him better through her pain.

And Emily heard him, she did but she was afraid a scream would escape her lips if she tried to verbally answer him so she settled on a quick nod.

She was desperate to know if Morgan was okay. She knew how risky her shot had been and was afraid that she might have hit him even though she had had a clear view. But she didn't dare to relax her jaw and remove her teeth from her lower lip to ask Hotch the question.

Hotch caught up on her nod and began undoing the straps on her vest. In a few seconds he had removed the front part of it from her chest and he could see that there was no blood. No blood meant that the bullet was still stuck in the vest.

He sighed in relief. His agent and friend wasn't bleeding out but the risk of internal bleeding still remained. After the small relief had settled, he told her about her condition.

"It's stuck in the vest," he said to her and saw that her eyes had now opened. Though, they were focused on the ceiling and not on him.

His statement was only answered with a curt nod. She still didn't dare to speak.

"I'll put it back on so it can hopefully minimise the risk of further injury because of some movement that might aggravate it until we get to the hospital."

Emily nodded her head once again and winced because of the pain as Hotch put the vest back on.

"Morgan?" he heard her ask in between her controlled breaths after he had fastened the vest.

"He's okay," Hotch assured her without really knowing if he was. He knew he no longer had a gun pressed to his head but other than that Hotch didn't know. Even though his knowledge was limited he uttered the words hoping that they would ease her distress. As he saw her visibly relax, he knew his words had been helpful. Now that she knew about Morgan's condition, she could focus on her own.

Hotch was just about to say something else when movement by the door caught his attention.

"Where are we needed?" one of the paramedics rushing through the door shouted.

"Here!" JJ answered loudly and waved one of her hands to get the medic's attention.

"Could use one over here too!" Hotch shouted.

The medics ran off in different directions to take care of the injured.

"What do we have here?" the medic questioned and looked at Hotch as he kneeled down next to Emily.

"Hit by a bullet in the vest which resulted in a fall to the floor," Hotch informed the man. "I've removed the vest to confirm that the bullet was stuck in the vest, which it is," Hotch continued.

The medic nodded.

"What's your name, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Emily Prentiss," Emily answered shortly.

"Okay, Emily, can you tell me where it hurts?"

"Head-" Emily took a painful breath. "-and ribs," she breathed out.

"Okay, then I'm going to begin with examining your head."

As the man examined his agent, Hotch started filling him in on the fact that the place was rigged with bombs when the Medic interrupted him and told him that they already knew. They had been informed about it before they were allowed to enter the building. The Medic then expressed his understanding that what he had to do was to decide on the best way to transport the patient out of the building, the rest of the examination could wait until they had reached the ambulance outside.

The medic had just finished clearing her for now when his coworker called for him from his spot across the room. "We need a gurney if we're going to get him out of here!"

The man looked at his colleague and then turned to Hotch. "You think you can get her out of here? Walk her, carry her it doesn't matter. I need to get the gurney."

"I've got it," Hotch assured him and then the man took off in a sprint.

"You're _not- _carrying me- out of here," Emily choked out.

"Okay then. Do you think you can stand?" Hotch said as he looked at Emily with concern. She looked like crap.

"What choice- do I have," Emily breathed and popped herself up on her elbows and swayed slightly. She wasn't going to let the pain or the nausea win.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy!" Hotch urged her. "Let me help."

Hotch took a hold of her arm and placed his other hand behind her back to help her into a sitting position after he had tucked her gun away at his waistline.

"You okay?" he asked when he saw her shut her eyes and heard her swallow loudly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Emily choked out rapidly. The truth was she was starting to doubt she would be able to stand, let alone walk.

"Okay," Hotch said and kept his grip on her as they rose.

Emily swayed as the dizziness fucked up her balance but thankfully Hotch was there to help her so that she didn't end up back on the floor.

He kept his eyes locked on her as she fought against the dizziness. He felt as she got steadier on her feet and only then did he relax a little. He had been worried that he might have had to carry her against her will if she hadn't regained some of her balance.

She opened her eyes again and wasn't surprised when she found Hotch's worried ones locked on her. She tried giving him a smile as reassurance but it probably turned out as a grimace.

The first steps she took were okay, the pain was a bitch and her balance was slightly off but she had Hotch at her side supporting her.

And then the next wave of nausea came over her and this time she realised she wouldn't be able to stop it.

She quickly pushed Hotch to the side and took two wobbly steps before her knees hit the floor and she threw up. She thought about how she hadn't puked as much in four years as she had within this last week as another wave of nausea came over her.

Hotch was at her side moments after she had landed on the floor and he felt at a loss about what to do. He knew perfectly well what he would've done if it had been Jack throwing up next to him but now it was one of the most independent FBI agents he had ever met, not his seven year old son.

"Hotch! What's going on?" Morgan screamed hoarsely from across the room where he was being lifted onto the gurney by the two medics, Rossi and Reid. He had seen as they had gotten up and then they were down on the floor again.

Rossi had, with some help from Reid, convinced JJ to leave the room to make sure that Henry's mother would return home to him but she hadn't left without a fight.

Hotch didn't answer Morgan as he was trying to talk to Emily. "Prentiss, is there anything I can do?" he asked, desperate to do something.

The dismissive wave of her hand gave him a hint of what she wanted him to do but he refused to leave her alone on the floor as she struggled with what was most likely the aftermath of a concussion.

"Hotch!" Morgan once again screamed from across the room. He was trying to see past the people surrounding him so that he could see what was happening.

Then his superior finally answered him. "The fall to the floor from the shot gave her a concussion."

"Is she okay?" Morgan was thankful Reid had asked the question he wanted an answer to because he doubted he had enough strength to do it himself.

"I'm fine," Emily answered as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She hated throwing up, especially in front of others. It made her feel weak and disgusting.

As soon as they had answered Reid's question they quickly rolled out the gurney of the room.

"I'm good," Emily repeated to Hotch who was watching her with a mixture of concern and doubt.

His stare remained on her for a few seconds before he looked to the door. They were the only ones left except for Rossi, who was now coming their way after having sent a reluctant Reid outside with Morgan.

"We really need to get out of here," Hotch said and turned his head back to Emily.

"I can make it," Emily argued as she tried to rise on unsteady legs. Hotch was quickly there to help steading her.

"Let's go!" Rossi, who had reached them, said and mimicked Hotch's way of putting one of Emily's arms his around his neck and his own around her waist. Neither Hotch or Emily noticed his bloody hands.

They moved rapidly, Emily looking awfully pale and barely keeping up with their steps. They navigated through the corridors and when reaching the last one Emily looked dangerously close to passing out.

"Almost there..." Rossi encouraged as they took the last turn.

Then they were out in the fresh air and hurrying towards to the arriving ambulance which was parking at a safe distance from the slaughterhouse.

Outside, Emily saw Morgan getting wheeled into an ambulance and then she couldn't see him anymore as the doors were shut and the vehicle took off in a racing speed towards the hospital. JJ and Reid who had been standing next to Morgan's ambulance looked their way and then signalled that they would drive to the hospital and meet up with Morgan.

Emily had just noticed Hotch's approving nod when she herself was captured by the two newly arrived medics, a man and a woman, and carefully hurried into an ambulance of her own. Though hers didn't take off immediately as Rossi asked for them to wait if possible. The medics told him they weren't in a rush and then turned to Emily to ask her if she could handle a few more minutes without painkillers.

"Hate them anyway," she replied and stopped herself from rubbing her forehead.

Rossi then moved to stand next to her seated on the gurney.

"He's dead," he informed Emily and tried to study her reaction but he came up empty handed. "It was a good shot," he assured her.

"Bastard had it coming," Emily answered laboriously. "He kidnapped my partner."

"I would hate to get on the wrong foot with you," Rossi smirked as he patted her on the less injured shoulder before stepping out of the vehicle.

"You okay with that?" Hotch asked Emily after hearing what Rossi had told her.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Hotch studied her face for any emotions that showed any sign that she wasn't but she kept it emotionless.

"You never know," he sighed and turned to signal to the medics that they were done.

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Hotch said to Emily as the first door closed.

"And no arguing!" Emily heard Hotch tell her before the medic slammed the other door shut and the ride to the hospital began.

* * *

Emily's thoughts were on Morgan, but they didn't quite manage to stay focused on him as her concussion kept her from thinking straight. She did think of how close she had come to losing her partner and wondering how badly he had been hurt. She hadn't seen enough of him to know and remaining in the dark bugged her.

Now when none of the team members could see how much the pain was really bothering her, she rubbed her forehead hoping that it would reduce the pounding in her head in some magical way.

"Your head bothering you?" the Medic asked as he put on his plastic gloves to begin the more thorough examination of his patient.

"Yeah," Emily sighed which only made her ribs hurt even more.

The Medic saw her grimace and said, "Let me take a look at those ribs of yours. A bullet can still do a lot of damage even when it doesn't penetrate the skin."

Just like Hotch had done earlier, the man undid the straps on her vest and removed it from her chest. He then gently pressed down on her ribs and Emily winced slightly as the pain increased.

"Bruising and maybe a break," the young Medic said as he continued his examination. He confirmed the bruising by asking her to pull up her shirt which exposed her abdomen covered in vivid shades of blue and purple.

He then told her she could pull the shirt back down and then moved on to examining her head and the extent of her concussion. He asked her questions as what was her name, today's date and the name of the President, all which she answered correctly and without hesitation.

They still hadn't made it to the hospital when he finished his examination. As her head was still one of the major things bothering her, Emily once again rubbed her forehead.

"Do you want something for the headache, Ma'am?" the young Medic asked as he noticed her doing so.

"No thank you. I can handle it," Emily replied and put on a fake smile. She didn't want to take anything as long as she didn't absolutely had to.

"You sure?" the man asked.

"Yes," Emily nodded and realised her mistake a second too late. The nodding jarred her ache even more.

"It's your choice," he backed down and scratched his head. "I'm sure we'll be arriving soon and then you'll be able to lie down in a bed that isn't going in 50 miles per hour."

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "Sounds good. And a lot less bumpy," she added between clenched teeth as the ambulance jumped.

"Sorry!" the female driver shouted back to them.

"Are you all right?" the young man asked her.

"Mhmm," was the only thing Emily managed to get out as she tried to get over the worst of the pain.

"We're fine!" the man in the back shouted to his colleague after Emily had answered him. He then looked at Emily and smiled an apologetic smile as the ambulance jumped a second time.

Emily tried to smile back at him but failed miserably. Then she spent the rest of the ride to the hospital battling the pain in one way or another.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, love-nenne, you were right. We wouldn't want our agent, who is already in pain, to suffer another injury. But a dead UnSub we can live with. Next up, the hospital. Until then!_


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Wow! the response to the previous chapter was great! Thank you! I'm glad you seem to like the progress of the story. What to expect this time is a hospital visit and a lot of phone calls. Happy reading!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

They had put her in a hospital bed. Then the doctor had poked, x-rayed, given her painkillers and asked her questions. After that he had delivered the verdict: a mild concussion and a rather severe bruising to her front torso but thankfully no internal bleeding or broken bones. The doctor had then asked her if she had any questions and when she had asked about Morgan's condition, he had answered that he didn't know anything at the moment but that he would tell her once he knew. He had then left the room.

_Like that would happen anytime soon, _Emily had thought but she had said nothing about it. The doctor surely had more important things to do than to find out about the condition of the banged up agent's partner and then actually return to tell her.

She pushed herself into a sitting position and slid closer to the edge of the bed. She then kept going and swung her legs over the side despite the headache, dizziness and light queasiness the action caused her. If the doctor wouldn't answer her questions she would have to find out the answer on her own.

The team member waiting outside her door chose that exact moment Emily pushed herself off the bed to enter the room.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Emily, who had just stood up on her unsteady legs, kept a firm grip on the bed railing as her head snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice. Halfway to her bed was Rossi and he was walking with urgent steps.

"I need to see Morgan," Emily answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The doctor wouldn't tell me how he was doing."

Rossi, now at her side, placed a gentle hand on her arm and tried to ease her back down to the bed. "You shouldn't be walking with that concussion of yours."

"He told you?" Emily asked in disbelief while she fought against Rossi's gentle push to remain on her feet.

"He didn't need to tell me. I've been around long enough to recognise a concussion when I see one."

"It doesn't matter," Emily said and tried to brush off his hand from her arm using the white knuckled hand she had been gripping the bed railing with. "I'm going to see Morgan."

Rossi realized there was no point in arguing against her once she had made up her mind and decided to do his best to keep her from causing any more damage to her body by offering his assistance to get her to Morgan's room.

"We'll do it like this," Rossi began. "I'll take you to Morgan if you agree on a wheelchair." He held up his hand to silence her as she was about to argue. "If you don't agree, I have no other choice but to make sure you don't go wandering off on your own."

"So, you're telling me that if I don't agree to put my ass in one of those lame things you'll babysit me?" Emily said as she tried to remain on her feet.

"Well, it's your choice."

A silent moment passed between the two as Emily tried to stare Rossi down but he wouldn't give in. "Fine!" she sighed. "Go and get the stupid chair so that we can get the hell out of here."

Rossi backed out of the room and asked a nurse for a chair that the male nurse returned with only minutes later. Rossi wheeled the chair into the room and waited for Emily to sit down.

"Stupid chair," Emily grumbled as she eased herself down with some effort.

"This is the least you can do for this old man after the scare you put him through," Rossi said as began pushing the chair down the hallway.

"Well I'm only doing it because you gave me no other choice. And to make you feel better for letting me get shot," Emily teased as she decided that the chair didn't matter that much. "I think your reflexes are getting a little bit rusty."

"I didn't let you get shot!" Rossi exclaimed. He stopped and stepped around the wheelchair to face her. "And I certainly do not have slow reflexes. What did you expect me to do? Shoot at the psycho that was taking cover behind your partner?"

Even though he sounded serious when speaking, Emily recognized the amused glint in his eyes and she knew she hadn't offended him. "Well, I would've expected you to do something, not let me take care of the whole thing," she grinned.

"You're unbelievable," Rossi laughed. "Not even a bullet and a dive to the cement can knock the smart-ass out of you."

Emily smiled widely. "Nope. It seems like it's still there."

Rossi carefully squeezed her arm before he stepped behind the chair and continued their journey. "Let's go and see that bruised partner of yours."

* * *

"Hi, guys," Emily greeted the people gathered in Morgan's room as Rossi pushed the chair inside.

"Emily? What are you doing here?" Reid asked as he looked up at her from his place by the window.

"I came to see Morgan," Emily answered as she turned her gaze to him. "How about you?"

"I'm okay. They gave me some painkillers and put some weird-ass mumbo-jumbo on my shoulders to lessen the pain which actually works so the pain isn't that bad anymore," Morgan replied without much difficulty. "How are you then?"

"I'm fine," she answered. Emily rose despite Rossi's disapproving glare to prove her point and started walking slowly towards the bed placed in the middle of the lightly coloured room.

Hotch rose from his chair by Morgan's bed and offered it to Emily. "You just let her move around after what happened today?" Hotch asked Rossi with an amused smile tugging at his lips as Emily took his seat.

"I tried to stop her but it would have been like stopping the Earth from circling around the sun," Rossi smiled.

"Actually it wouldn't be possible to..." Reid began but was cut off by JJ.

"He wasn't serious, Spence."

"Oh," Reid said, slightly at a loss because of the cue he had missed that was suppose to let him know that the older agent was only joking.

Emily tried to keep the grimace of her face as she eased herself down on the chair but failed miserably.

"Emily, you're not fine," Morgan said as he saw her pained expression. "You shouldn't be up walking around. Not after that bullet you took today."

"It only resulted in some bruising," Emily said.

"And a concussion," Rossi added.

"Whatever," Emily said, making a dismissive wave with her hand."Seriously, I'm okay." She gave Morgan the most reassuring smile she could come up with given her pretty annoying headache. "What's your verdict then?"

"Well, except for some muscle damage that will heal with time, all they had to do was stitch me up a little. But to be honest it's mostly it's my ego that is bruised. When I saw him in the parking lot I thought I recognised him but I couldn't place him, even though I should have," Morgan answered and looked down at the blanket covering his lower body.

"Hey," Emily said and reached out to touch his arm, careful not to touch any of the bruises. "You can't expect yourself to remember the faces of all our suspects."

"Yeah. I guess you're right," Morgan sighed. "But still-"

"No. Let's just stop at 'yes, you're right'. It sounds better," Emily grinned.

Morgan responded by chuckling lightly, ignoring the pain, and slowly shaking his head from side to side. "You sure know how to lighten the mood."

"I try my best," Emily laughed but quickly realised her mistake as her stomach protested wildly. "Ouch..." she groaned and put her hand on her sore ribs.

"You okay?" Hotch asked and Emily immediately felt everyone's worried eyes on her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Laughing may not be the smartest thing to do right now though."

"Just remember to take it easy," Hotch urged her.

"Yeah," Emily replied.

Hotch was just about to say something else when his phone started buzzing. "Oh, this can't be good," he said as he looked at the called ID. "Hey, Garcia," he answered the call.

"_I haven't heard from you since you called to say that the baddie was dead and that you had found my baby but by then you didn't know how badly he was hurt. Is he okay? Is he in surgery? Oh my God, is he hurt so badly that I need to pack my bags? Just hang on a second, Sir, and I'll go look for my suitcase." _

"Garcia, calm down and wait a second. I'm putting you on speaker. He's right here," Hotch said and turned to Morgan. "Garcia is looking for her bags to pack so that she can fly down here. Please make her stop."

"_Derek? Derek, are you there?"_

"Yes, I'm here, Mama."

"_Oh thank God!"_ The relief was evident in her voice. _"How badly are you hurt?"_

"Not too bad, some muscle damage and a few stitches."

"_How's everyone else?"_

"We're all here, Penelope," JJ answered.

"_And no one else got hurt right?" _Garcia always expected the worst whenever they entered a dangerous situation.

"No one but Prentiss," Morgan answered.

If looks could kill, Morgan would be a dead man by now judging from the glare Emily was giving him. He didn't have to tell Garcia about her getting hurt.

"_Why? What? Wha- What happened?" _Garcia rambled in a panicked voice.

"I'm fine, Garcia," Emily quickly assured her.

"She got shot," Morgan said.

"_Oh Lordie!"_ Garcia breathed in.

"I'm going to kill you," Emily hissed at Morgan.

"You wouldn't hurt an injured man."

"Don't be so sure of yourself," Emily glared.

"_You got shot?! YOU GOT SHOT?!"_ Garcia screamed.

"The vest took the bullet. I'm fine, Pen," Emily tried to convince her hysterical friend.

"_I don't care if your fine or not, or of course I do, I wouldn't want you to be hurt but still, you got shot?"_

"Now, see what you've done?" Emily said to Morgan as she nodded at the phone in Hotch's hand.

"_First, my Chocolate God of Thunder gets kidnapped and then my Raved-haired Warrior gets shot while rescuing him?! I need to buy you guys lucky charms because you certainly do not have any luck of your own."_

"I totally agree with you, Garcia," Rossi, who was standing in the corner of the room, said with an amused smile as he was observing the scene and listening in on the conversation.

"_When can I expect my family to be back home then?" _she said after calming down a bit.

"They wanted to keep both Prentiss and Morgan overnight for observation and if nothing pops up they're free to leave tomorrow afternoon," Hotch supplied Garcia.

"_Then I'll meet you at the airstrip tomorrow night. Until then I suggest chaining our trouble-attracting Emster to the hospital bed and placing a guard outside her door."_

Emily simply scoffed at Garcia's suggestion. "I'm pretty sure I would find something to pick the lock with," she mused.

"_And don't forget to duct tape her hands together," _Garcia countered.

"I think we got it covered," JJ laughed and smiled at Emily.

"We better get you back to your room before the doctor calls for a search party," Rossi told Emily.

"_She's already escaped her room?! See, that's even more reason to keep her tied up and guarded," _Garcia argued.

"Bye, Pen," Emily said and gestured for Hotch to end the call.

The others said their goodbyes in unison as Hotch waited to press the button which would end the call.

"Come on," Rossi said and placed his warm hand on Emily's shoulder. "I'll take you back to your room."

"Not the chair," Emily whined as she spotted the wheelchair he had placed next to the chair she was sitting in.

"Yes, the chair," Rossi said and offered his hand to help her up.

Emily gave Morgan one last look before reluctantly taking Rossi's hand letting him help her to the wheelchair. They then began the trip back to the bed in which she, much to her dislike, would have to spend the night.

* * *

She woke up early in the morning from a very, very uncomfortable jolt of pain. She must have moved her body into a weird position aggravating her bruised ribs while she slept and now the pain had forced her to wake up. Emily let out a hissing sigh through clenched teeth as the pain refused to fade.

She knew the easiest way to get rid of it was to call for a nurse who would happily give her something for it but she didn't want it. She didn't want to pump her body full of legal drugs and then spend the rest of the day in a drug induced coma. She wanted to be aware of what was happening around her and so she kept her breathing even and as she did, the pain subsided and transformed into a dull ache. That she could live with.

She looked around the room and saw that no one was inside. After Rossi had escorted her back to her room for the night, Emily had convinced him to go back to the hotel and rest. Minutes after he had left, Hotch had shown up in her doorway. She had then told him the same thing; she and Morgan would be fine on their own for the night.

Now she was left alone with her own thoughts that were pretty much everywhere. She was thinking of how close the team had come to losing their lives. If Lockwood had pressed the button, even though no one had confirmed it yet, Emily was sure there would have been bombs going off. It was the kind of man Lockwood had been. He had planned to make history, something killing seven FBI agents and a lot of other law enforcement definitely would have.

Then her thoughts drifted to Dylan. Considering everything that had been going on, she hadn't had time to think of a way to deal with him.

She hadn't heard anything from him since the day she broke down and now she realised how anxious that made her. He had always been a straightforward guy and the silence after his repeated calls filled her with unease. What was he waiting for? Why hadn't he called her from yet another phone number? Had he given up on her? The questions piled up on each other and the more she thought about it, the more questions she ended up with.

Her thoughts trailed on and stopped at what Hotch had asked her after Rossi had talked to her in the ambulance. Was she really okay with killing another human being? He had been a bad guy who himself had killed a lot of people so technically she shouldn't feel bad about it, but that was what bothered Emily the most. Where was the difference in him killing and her killing? They had both preformed the same horrible act but the way the law saw it, what she had done was legal while what Lockwood had done wasn't. What made them, the team, different from the men and women they hunted? As she asked herself that question she flashed back to when she was still pretty new to the team. She had then asked Morgan that exact same question.

* * *

_The plane was empty except for Emily who was sitting in a lone chair. She was resting her head in her left hand and gloomily stared out the window into the darkness outside._

_She didn't take any notice of Morgan entering the plane until he sat down in the chair opposite of hers._

"_You okay?" he asked her as he crossed his right leg over his left and intertwined his fingers. _

_Emily answered with a sigh then returned to looking out the window._

_Morgan, knowing that something was bothering her kept talking while looking at his hands. "I've never seen you look so..." he didn't know how to phrase it. _

"_Quiet?" Emily filled him in._

_He then turned his gaze to her. "What's up?"_

_Emily took a breath before answering. "Bobbi Baird asked me a question that's sticking with me," she said and then turned her head back to look out the window. _

"_What was it?" Morgan wondered._

"_She asked me how they could do it. How those men could," she paused shortly, "hunt and kill people in the woods."_

"_What'd you tell her?"_

"_That they don't think like we do," she replied and looked at Morgan. Emily then shifted her eyes to the armrest and began fidgeting with it as she continued, "But the truth is that we do think like them."_

_A moment of silence passed between the two before Morgan spoke. "Yeah, we do. Because it's our job. We need to know how it feels."_

_Emily looked at Morgan with a sad and troubled expression. "We hunt these people everyday." She paused and took a breath. "The question is, how different are we? Us and them."_

_To that Morgan didn't have an answer._

* * *

After thinking about that for a while her thoughts surprisingly ended up on Danny and Josh. She had promised to visit them before she left, which would be this afternoon according to the conversation they had had with Garcia yesterday. And here she was, stuck in a hospital bed for no reason really, well a bullet to her abdomen might have been reason enough if it had pierced her skin but since it hadn't, Emily saw no reason for her to stay there until this afternoon and missing out on the opportunity to visit the Bentleys.

As a nurse passed by her door, Emily came to think of something. She could actually sign herself out early and then visit them. Sign a form and then she was out the door. After mentally debating it for a few minutes, signing herself out was what she settled on and the next time a nurse passed by her room she called out for her and asked her to bring the papers to sign.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Emily was standing outside the hospital dressed in fresh clothes, a pair of blue denim jeans and a red T-shirt, that she had picked out from her go bag, which JJ had brought her the previous night before she had left for the hotel.

The bag had also held her toiletry bag containing a small amount of make up, shampoo and soap. Thankfully, her room had had a shower, which she had gladly used before applying a layer of make-up that covered the worst of her injuries on her face.

Now she was standing outside showered, dressed and sore waiting for her cab to arrive. While she did she also dialled the number Josh had given her after paying her a visit at the station. He picked up after the fourth ring.

"_Hello? This is Josh."_

"Hi, it's Emily Prentiss." Emily had trouble deciding if her name was enough for him to know who it was. "Agent Prentiss," she clarified.

"_Hi! Is the case over? Because I assume your calling about the dinner invitation."_

"Yeah, we caught the guy yesterday. And yes, I'm calling about the dinner invitation."

"_Don't tell me you can't make it."_ Emily heard the disappointment in his voice.

"Oh, no. I'm not calling to cancel. I was actually calling to see if I could swing by in a few minutes. I know it's on a short notice but we're leaving later today and now is pretty much the only time I have before the plane takes off..."

"_No worries, we can make it an early dinner. I'll start the food right away. I've been staying at home with Danny since his abduction. I told my boss what happened and she gave me a few days off."_

"So nice of her," Emily said. "Now I only need an address and a cab and then I'm on my way."

Josh gave her the address and as she hung up her cab finally arrived. She climbed inside the yellow vehicle and gave the driver the address.

* * *

By the time Morgan woke up it was midday and the sun was shining through his windows. The cuts on his body stung but otherwise he felt fine, a little sore in his shoulders but his breathing had returned to normal by now.

He was glad that the case was finally over and that they would be going home later today. Utah had really given him quite a few scares and he was pretty sure only a few cases had been as hard as this one. It had been both mentally and physically exhausting. What he really longed for right now was to go home to Clooney and sleep in his own bed.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned to look out the window. It looked like a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. In a tree outside the window he saw birds landing and flying away from it. He didn't hear them sing but he could picture it. The sight calmed him and not before long the act of keeping track of the birds coming and leaving the tree had ended up in an almost meditative state.

_This is a good day, _Morgan thought.

* * *

They had all been drained of energy as they had entered their respective hotel rooms the night before. Now, after a few hours of sleep, they felt more alive and ready to tackle another day.

They met up for a late breakfast before returning to their rooms to pack the final things. The mood at the breakfast table had been light and quite a few jokes had been shared.

After finishing packing their bags, they had a few hours to spend before their friends were being discharged.

Hotch and JJ took the time to call their families, which hadn't heard much of them since they began working the case.

Rossi and Reid bought a newspaper each and decided to compete in who could solve the crossword puzzle the fastest.

* * *

Hotch had just hung up after having a pleasant conversation with Beth, who had promised to tell Jack that his father said hi as soon as he got home from school, when his phone started ringing.

"This is Agent Aaron Hotchner," he answered the phone.

"_Hello. My name is Kurt Samson and I'm the lead of the bomb search of the crime scene you and your agents were at yesterday."_

"I see."

"_I was just calling to tell you that the whole place was rigged with bombs that didn't show up on the initial search ready to detonate as soon as the red button on the device your team and the police secured."_

"Thank you for letting me know," Hotch said and ended the call after a brief final line.

He was just about to walk out the room when his phone started ringing, again.

"Hello, Garcia," Hotch answered after looking at the caller ID.

"_Hello to you too, Sir. I'm calling to tell you that I think I just found our Meanie's trigger,"_ Garcia quipped.

"Tell me."

"_Almost exactly a month ago, and I mean pretty much the same date as the killings started, Stuart Lockwood found out that he had a rapidly progressive neurological disease called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, that attacks his nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. Medicines do exist but all it can do is slow down the process, there's no cure yet. It means that within a few years he would have ended up stuck in a bed, not being able to do a thing on his own. In other words, all he could do was wait for it to kick in."_

"That certainly explains why he was about to blow the place up with him inside, he didn't want his disease to take control over him," Hotch said thoughtfully.

He didn't want to become the man not able to get out of bed, a criminal fading away. No, he wanted to be remembered for something, and in this case it was killing people.

"But we never saw any signs of it," Hotch commented as he remembered the UnSub's healthy appearance.

"_That's probably because he was taking medicine to ease the muscle cramps he was most likely having," _Garcia explained.

"And he probably worked out to try to keep himself as strong as possible, hoping it would slow down the progress," Hotch concluded.

"_Probably," _Garcia nodded.

"Anything else, Garcia?"

"_Nope, dear Boss-man. Just make sure to get home safely."_

"I will," Hotch replied and ended the call. He then walked out of his room with his bag in hand and tried to locate the rest of the team to share this newly gained information.

He found them out in the lobby. Rossi and Reid were filling in the missing letters of respective crossword as JJ sat looking over their shoulders, anticipating who was to win.

"I've got news," Hotch said as he neared the trio.

JJ was the only one to look up, the others were to busy trying to win.

"What kind of news?" JJ questioned.

"Garcia called," Hotch began and continued to tell them, or mostly JJ since the other two were focused on their little competition, what she had told him.

"Sure his illness might have been a contributing factor but he was the one who chose to do all those terrible things, not the disease," JJ said and shook her head.

"You're right," Hotch said. "But I have more."

JJ looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"The guy leading the bomb search of the crime scene called me to say that we would've all been dead if it wasn't for Prentiss pulling that trigger when she did. The whole place was rigged with bombs which would have exploded if Lockwood's thumb had touched the button."

JJ let out a loud breath. "Then I guess we should thank Emily for saving our asses."

"HA! I won!" Reid exclaimed as he slammed down his pencil on the paper and held up his hands.

"Let me see," Rossi muttered and reached for his paper. "So that's the word they were looking for," he said as he saw the word Reid had written down but he himself couldn't figure out.

"What do I get for winning?" Reid asked and looked from one agent to another.

"I'll buy you an ice-cream," JJ laughed and patted his leg. "What do you say we bring our wounded friends some lunch? I bet they won't be happy over what they're being served at the hospital."

"I think that's a very good idea," Rossi agreed and rose from his chair.

"But what about my ice-cream?" Reid questioned looking up from his seat at the standing JJ.

"I promise I'll get you your ice-cream," she sighed in amusement and rolled her eyes.

"Good, I think I might want chocolate. Or vanilla. Or maybe liquorice. Do they have liquorice flavoured ice-cream?" Reid rambled as he trotted after the other agents towards the cars.

* * *

Just as Morgan was about to take the first bite of whatever he had been served, he heard the familiar sound of Reid's rambling. This time it was about elevators. Morgan put down the fork and smiled at the team as they entered his room.

"Thank God, you brought food!" he exclaimed as he spotted the bag in JJ's hand.

"Yeah, we thought you might like this better than what they have here," JJ answered. "What is that?" she continued as she saw the plate placed in front of Morgan.

"I have no idea," Morgan replied and suspiciously eyed the so called food.

"Here," JJ said and handed him the take-away box.

Morgan thanked her as he accepted it. He replaced the hospital food with what JJ had brought him and his appetite was immediately restored. "This looks so much better," he said as he looked down at the hamburger in the box.

"You guys can start as I'll go and fetch Emily. I'm guessing she will be happy to escape her room," Rossi chuckled and walked out the door.

JJ continued giving out the food as the team members ended up sitting on what was available, Hotch and Reid in the two chairs placed in the room and JJ sat down at the end of Morgan's bed by his feet.

They had just started their meals when Rossi returned, without Emily.

"Where's Emily?" Reid asked when he spotted the lone agent.

"I don't know but she's not in her room," Rossi said.

"Then where the hell is she?" Morgan responded. "I knew we should've listened to Garcia and chained her to the bed."

"I don't think it would've helped," Rossi mumbled. "Let's see if I can find out where she is."

With those words he left the room and went to the reception desk. There he found a nurse stationed. "Excuse me, Ma'am," he said as he had approached.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Hello, Sir. How may I help you?"

"I was wondering if you could check if a friend of mine is still a patient here?" Rossi had started to suspect that she had signed herself out. Why he did not know.

"Do you have a name?" the nurse asked him.

"Yes, Emily Prentiss. She came in with an ambulance yesterday if that helps."

"Let me see..." the nurse said and studied the computer screen. "We had an Emily Prentiss until this morning when she signed herself out against medical advice."

"Okay, thank you so much for your help."

"You're welcome," she said and returned to what she had been doing before he interrupted.

Rossi was just about to begin his walk back to Morgan's room when another nurse called for his attention. "Excuse me, Sir?"

Rossi stopped and turned to the young girl that had called for him. "Yes?" he said.

"Did you just ask about an Emily Prentiss?" the young nurse asked as she began searching her pockets with the hand that wasn't clutching the chart to her chest.

"Yes, do you know her?" Rossi questioned.

"No, not really but I was the one she called for before she signed herself out and she asked me to tell her friends something..." the girl said and dug deeper into the pockets of her scrubs. "I wrote it down... If I could just find the note..."

A few seconds passed before she found the yellow note. "She asked me to tell you- because I assume it were you she meant when she said her friends?"

"Yes, it was," Rossi nodded.

"Good. Ms. Prentiss wanted me to tell you that she will be meeting you guys at the plane at given time, just like you decided, and that you shouldn't worry," the nurse quoted from the note. "Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes, yes it does," Rossi smiled. "Thank you for your help."

"I'm not sure how much I helped but I'm glad I did. I hope she turns up like you decided. Have a good day, Sir."

"You too, Nurse," Rossi said and shook her hand. He then started to walk back to Morgan's room for the second time.

Once he entered the room all eyes were on him.

"So?" Morgan said, eager to find out if Rossi knew where his partner was.

"A nurse told me she signed herself out AMA this morning and then another nurse delivered a message from Prentiss."

"What was the message?" Hotch asked.

"That she would meet us at the plane and that we shouldn't worry. She didn't say where she was going or why she signed herself out early."

"Dammit, Prentiss!" Morgan swore.

"I think we should listen to her and not worry," Rossi thought out loud. "I think she knows what she's doing."

"Really?" Morgan said. "After this week?"

Rossi looked at the dark agent. "Don't you trust her?"

Morgan rubbed his face and sighed. "Of course I do."

"Then let her be," Rossi answered. "She'll turn up later."

Morgan sighed in frustration and returned to eating of his food. He did trust his partner; it was just that after this week he didn't fully trust her to make the most rational decisions. It ended with him not being able to do anything but worry about her when she took off like this, without any notice or without telling them where she was going.

_I think I know where she's at_, JJ thought smugly while taking small slurps of her drink. She was thinking in the line of Emily's unannounced visitor the other day.

* * *

_A/N: So, Emily managed to escape from the hospital and now she's on her way to visit the Bentleys. Feel free to fill in the review box below to let me know what you thought of the chapter :)_


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: And here comes, a whole chapter focusing on the dinner invitation._

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

Emily stood patiently waiting for someone to open the door. She heard movement from the inside of the apartment and soon she could hear the sound of small feet against the floor.

"_I wanna open!"_ a small voice exclaimed. _"Don't open the door, Daddy!"_

Emily smiled at what could only be Danny's eagerness to open the door. The sound of running feet became louder as the boy neared but then it abruptly stopped and was followed by a rather loud thud. The inside of the apartment became absolutely quiet and Emily wondered what had happened.

"_I'm okay!"_

She exhaled the breath she didn't know she had been holding upon hearing Danny's reassuring words.

"_Don't open the door, Daddy!"_

"_I promise I won't open the door,"_ a chuckling voice, that Emily realised belonged to Josh, promised.

The door handle in front of Emily started to move and seconds later she could hear as someone, presumably Danny, twisted the lock.

The door flung open and as she had predicted, she was met by Danny's bright face.

"Em'ly!" he exclaimed and threw himself at her.

Her reflexes made her reach out for the flying ball of blond hair and caught him before he ended up crashing on the floor. As she did, her aching ribs protested and an expression of discomfort became evident on her face only to vanish seconds later. She didn't want Danny to think that he was hurting her.

"Hey, Danny-Boy!" Emily greeted the small boy, now in her arms.

"I missed you!" Danny said and tightened the grip he had around her neck.

"I've missed you too," Emily smiled and let herself burrow her nose in the boy's hair and inhaled his scent. His hair held that special smell only children have, that adorable baby-smell that eventually leaves them as they grow older. He also smelled like children's shampoo, another scent she rarely came across.

As Emily looked up from the boy, Josh appeared in the doorway.

"Danny, maybe you should let Agent Prentiss get inside before you attack her," his father suggested.

"Nah, I think this is one of the best greetings I've ever come across while visiting a friend," Emily said and tickled the boy who had now released his grip on her a little and was happily sitting on her hip.

Danny couldn't fight the laughter her tickling caused and the hallway was filled with his contagious laugh. His father smiled at the two of them and their obvious connection.

"Then I'll just have to invite you in since my rude son is refusing to," Josh said with a wink. "Would you like to come inside?"

"I would, thank you very much," Emily said, enjoying his way of inviting her.

The boy remained on her hip as she took the few steps to get inside the apartment. It was small and was an open floor design. Brown boxes were piled on top of each other and were placed in rows along the walls. It looked very much like the family of two was about to move.

"You're moving?" Emily asked and nodded at the boxes.

"Yeah, I got a promotion," Josh answered looking over his shoulder at her as he closed the door.

"Where to?"

"D.C." Josh replied as he turned the lock.

"Then maybe we'll run into each other," Emily smiled.

"I hope so," Josh said, returning the smile and offering to take her jacket.

"Hey, Danny," Emily spoke next to the boy's ear. "Your daddy wants to be a gentleman and help me off with my jacket. Is it okay if I can put you down for a few minutes so he can do that?"

Danny's eyes went from Emily to his father then back to her. A nod and a wide, toothy grin told her she could put him down.

Emily struggled to squat down, her body was not happy with the motion, and grimaced as she helped the boy down. Thankfully, Danny was too eager to run off to retrieve something from his room that he wanted to show Emily to hear her expressing her discomfort. Unfortunately for her, the same couldn't be said about his father.

As Emily put her hands on her knees and pushed herself into a standing position she felt Josh's eyes on her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she had levelled herself up. His voice was full of concern and his eyes held a worry she wasn't used to see in someone else's eyes than her friends'.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Took a bullet during the takedown," Emily shrugged.

She could practically hear his mouth fall open. "_You took a bullet?_ Excuse me for my lack of knowledge concerning cop-talk, but doesn't that mean you got shot?"

"That's what it means," Emily confirmed and regretted telling him. He would most definitely baby her the rest of the time they spent together before it was time for her to catch the plane.

"Then shouldn't you be in a hospital? Or at least lie down to rest?" Josh's concern for the agent grew.

"It got lodged in the vest," Emily tried to make it sound less serious. "And I've been at the hospital, bruised ribs and a mild concussion was the verdict. They said I should stay out of the field for a few weeks but they didn't say anything about not visiting friends."

What she didn't tell him though was that she had checked herself out AMA to be able to come visit. The hospital had wanted to keep her for a few more hours, at least until Morgan was discharged.

"You sure you're okay?" Josh asked, still holding her jacket in his hand.

"I'm sure," Emily said and smiled to make him believe her.

"Okay, then I'll just have to trust you on that one," he mumbled as he turned to hang up her jacket.

Josh then gestured for her to move further inside the apartment so she did. As she got further inside the smell from the food became stronger and it smelled delicious.

"The food is almost ready," Josh said as he caught her glancing towards the kitchen.

"What are you cooking?" she asked as she tried to connect the smell with a dish.

"A family recipe," Josh answered very secretly.

"In other words, 'I'm not going to tell you'?" Emily smirked.

"Exactly," Josh laughed.

He had just finished his tour of the apartment when the running blond boy was back.

"Em'ly!" Danny called out and tugged at her hand.

"Yes," Emily said and smiled down at the boy.

"I've made this for you!" he said proudly and stuck a glittering card up in the air.

"Oh, let me see," Emily replied and squatted down slowly to minimise the pain.

Once she had reached the same eye-level as Danny, she took the card he held out for her and admired it. The front was covered with different shades of glitter-glue and sequins. When she opened the card at Danny's request there was ever more glitter but what her eyes landed on brought tears to her eyes.

On the right side of the card the words 'Thank you for saving me!' were written in a rather messy I'm-still-learning-how-to-write-handwriting of a four year old.

The words made her heart swell and she discreetly tilted her head back to keep the tears from falling all while blinking rapidly. "It's beautiful," she said and smiled at Danny. "Thank you!"

"You like it?" he asked as he looked shyly at her.

"I love it."

The boy's face transformed into a wide smile. The huge grin was contagious and it didn't take long before both Emily and Josh smiled as wide too.

"I told you she would like it," Josh said and gently squeezed his son's shoulder.

A timer ringing in the kitchen interrupted the moment and as it did, heads turned to that direction. "Dinner's ready," Josh remarked.

Before Josh had had the chance to offer his help, Emily had pushed herself up from her sitting position the floor.

"Let's eat," Josh said and began leading her to the table as Danny ran in front of them.

* * *

The food had been amazing; steak and potatoes accompanied by vegetables and gravy. Even after finishing the meal, Josh had refused to let Emily in on the secret family recipe. They had talked for a while and when Danny had finished his plate, he had asked if he could be excused.

After Danny had left the table to go watch one of his favourite TV-shows, Emily started a less light-hearted conversation than the ones they had shared before.

"How is he doing?" she asked as she ran her finger over the rim of the glass filled with water.

Josh leaned back in his seat and sighed before answering her. "He's okay, I guess. The days aren't as bad as the nights. During the day the only thing that's different from before is that he's afraid of going anywhere on his own. If we go outside he either holds my hand the entire time or, when he dares to let go, he's not further away from me than a few feet. But I guess it's good that he stays close to me."

"It would be worse if he was distancing himself from you," Emily said. "He feels safe with you and trusts you. That's why he's always near you, especially when you're around other people. The way he sees it, anyone of the men and women walking the streets can be the next person to grab him and separate him from you."

Josh nodded as she spoke. "I know," he said. "I'm still angry at Mary and Thomas for letting them walk to the park all by themselves. I talked to them, after Danny had been found, and I felt bad for them as I saw how guilty they were. But I still can't let go of my anger towards them," he sighed.

"That's perfectly normal," Emily assured him. Then she went back to something he had said before. "You said the nights were the worst. In which way?"

Josh reached for his glass and took a sip of his drink. "He has nightmares, all the time. Which should be expected. It's just so hard to wake up to his screams."

A pained expression filled his face and Emily felt bad for him. She could only guess how terrifying it must be to wake up to your child's screams. She knew how it was to wake up to her own screams but it must be so much worse to know that the cry was coming from someone you loved so deeply.

"The first night, I let him sleep in my bed. I guess it was just as much for me as it was for him. I needed to feel that he was really there with me, you know?"

Emily nodded.

"Since then I've put him to sleep in his own bed but he always wakes up in the middle of the night screaming and it always ends with me carrying him to my bed and comforting him until he falls back asleep."

"The first days after an abduction are always the hardest," Emily reassured him. "The memory is very fresh to Danny right now. It will fade as the years pass and he's young enough that he might not even remember it at all. It gets better with time." She was speaking from both professional and personal experience.

"You really think he'll forget about it?" Josh questioned.

"To be honest, I don't know. The brain of a child is a funny thing like that. Sometimes it remembers the good times and sometimes it's the bad ones that stick."

Josh sighed. "So only time will tell."

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "Do you have a pen?"

Josh looked at her in confusion but decided not to question her request. "Ehm, sure. Just wait a minute," he said and left the table.

As he went to fetch the pen, Emily went to her jacket and picked up one of her business cards. She had just sat down again when Josh returned to the kitchen with a pen in hand.

"Here you go," he said and handed her the pen.

"Thank you," Emily answered and accepted the pen. She then flipped her card around and jotted down a number on the back.

"Here," she said and held out the card for him to take. "This is my work number and on the back is my cell. If you ever feel like you need some help dealing with the aftermath of Danny's abduction, don't hesitate to call. And don't think about what time it is, with this job there's nothing like a routine to your sleep."

"Wow, thank you," Josh said and hesitantly reach out for the card.

"You're welcome," she said and let go of the card. Once he had it in his hand he studied both phone numbers before putting it down on the table.

She was just about to keep the conversation going when a voice coming from the living room called out.

"Em'ly, hurry!"

It was Danny's voice and it didn't sound like he was in any distress but Emily still flipped into protective mode and hurried into the living room as Josh followed her quickly. As she turned the corner separating the kitchen from the living room she quickly scanned it for any threats. What she found was Danny sitting on the floor in front of the TV but no threats.

"Look!" Danny exclaimed and pointed to the TV screen. He was watching some kind of cartoon that Emily recognised as the one and only Scooby-Doo.

"They caught the bad guy, just like you did!" Danny said in excitement and kept pointing at the screen.

Emily relaxed and heard Josh let out a breath he had been holding. "That they did," Emily said and smiled to the boy.

"Will you watch the next episode with me?" Danny pleaded and looked at her with the most charming eyes a boy his age could make up.

"You mind?" Emily asked Josh as she turned to him. She didn't want to leave him on his own so soon after the conversation they had had but neither did she want to say no to the boy. Thankfully, Josh's reply made it easy for her to come to a decision.

"Not at all, I'll go and clean up the kitchen while you two catch the bad guy."

Emily smiled at him before she turned her attention back to Danny. "Should I sit next to you on the floor or do you want me to sit on the couch?"

"Sit with me," Danny said and placed his hand on the floor next to him.

Emily took the few steps separating them and then sank down on the floor with some effort. He ribs weren't happy about her little gymnastics performance but she ignored their complaint. When she had seated herself on the floor Danny scooted closer to her.

"Look, that's Scooby," he explained to her as the brown dog with black dots emerged on the screen closely followed by his tall, human companion.

"And that's Shaggy," Danny informed her.

He kept telling her what each character's name was and as the episode neared the end, Danny was practically sitting in her lap, resting his head against her chest.

And that's how Josh walked in to find them after finishing cleaning up in the kitchen. Emily with Danny closely snuggled to her and both of them were so focused on the show that neither heard him coming.

"I knew it was him!" Danny shouted as the blond man, Fred, pulled off the monster's mask.

"You did? I think you'll make a detective in no time," Emily smiled.

"I agree," a voice from behind them said.

Both Emily and Danny turned their heads around at the sound of Josh's voice.

"Did you hear, Daddy? I knew it was him!" Danny said in excitement and pointed at the TV screen.

"Yes, I heard you. And you're so smart, you always figure it out my little Einstein," Josh said as he walked to stand next to his son and then he tousled his hair lovingly. "Now why don't you go finish that drawing you showed me this morning," he said and winked at his son.

"I will," Danny said and eagerly nodded his head.

Josh looked after his son as he ran towards his room. When Danny had gone through the doorway Josh turned to Emily. "Let me help you up," he said and held out his hand to her.

Even though Emily usually didn't accept help when it was offered she did this time. One part of her brain said it was because it would be a lot less painful than getting up on her own would be and another part of her brain reasoned that she had accepted the help because it was him that was offering it. She decided to ignore the part that was telling her it was because of Josh and placed her hand in his.

"Thanks," Emily said as she felt his fingers close around her hand.

He carefully helped her up slowly to not cause her any more pain than necessary and she was soon standing up.

They were now standing face to face and no one said anything, they just looked at each other. It wasn't an awkward silence between the two, even though it should have been since they barely knew each other, and Emily found herself enjoying his quiet company too.

Emily guessed Josh must have felt the same about the situation because he remained relaxed and didn't seem be bothered by the silence.

"You have a sequin on your shirt," Josh said quietly and reached out to brush it off her shoulder.

"I do?" Emily asked and looked at where his hand had just touched her.

"Not anymore," he said and smiled after one last sweep. "I think it must've come from Danny's card."

"Yeah, it must have. I usually don't decorate my shirts with glitter," Emily laughed.

"Really?" Josh said as he faked being surprised and then he started laughing with her. "How does coffee sound to you?" he asked after the laughter had ebbed out.

"Hmm, you've got any tea?" Emily didn't want to bother her sensitive stomach with any stronger drinks just yet.

"I think I still have some in the cabinet. I'm keeping the essential stuff out of the boxes until it's time to leave," he answered and began walking towards the kitchen.

Emily followed and ended up leaning against the counter as she watched him preparing the tea.

"So, how long did it take for you to figure out who the bad guy was?" Josh asked as he turned to her with an amused smile after having started the water boiler.

"It's almost always the greedy, suspicious guy they meet in the beginning of the episode," Emily smiled back at him.

"I've never thought of that before but now when you're saying it, I think you're right," Josh said pondering her answer.

"So, Scooby-Doo is a favourite of his?" Emily asked.

"Yes, if we didn't watch it at least twice a week he would go crazy. He loves it."

"Can't blame him. It's not that bad for a kids' show."

"No, it's not," Josh agreed and turned away from Emily to reach for the cups placed in the cabinet behind him.

He put them on the counter and poured the boiling water over the teabags he had put inside after asking Emily what flavour she would like. They had both settled on Earl Grey.

"So, how long before you have to leave?" Josh questioned as he handed her one of the steaming cups.

"Thanks," Emily said as she let her hands close around the warm cup. She then looked at the big clock that was hanging on the wall over the dining table. "A little less than an hour."

Josh nodded. She could have stayed much longer according to his liking but the plane wouldn't wait for her if she did. He didn't want to say goodbye to the Agent he had developed a liking for but hopefully they would meet again soon.

"What do you plan on doing when you get home then?" he asked.

Emily took a sip of her warm beverage. "I think I'll snuggle with my cat and then sleep for about a whole week straight."

"Yeah, the job you do must be exhausting."

"Most of the time, yes, but it's worth it," Emily said and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Especially when we get to save people."

"I bet that's one of the best parts of the job," Josh nodded and drank of his tea.

"It is," Emily answered without hesitation. She then took another sip of her drink and enjoyed the warmth.

A moment passed before Josh spoke again. "You said you got a cat, right?"

Emily put the strand of hair that kept insisting on falling down in her face behind her ear again. "Yes, I do. His name is Sergio."

"Sergio?" Josh said with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, he's named after an old friend of mine."

"Does this friend of yours know you named a cat after him? Or is it a her?"

"Her," Emily replied. "Emilia Sergio, and no she doesn't know." What she didn't tell him was that her friend had died a long time ago, years before she even considered getting a cat.

"You lost contact?" Josh wondered.

"You can call it that," Emily answered vaguely.

"Unfortunately it happens. I barely keep in touch with the friends I have today, let alone the ones I had years ago."

Emily nodded. "That's how it is."

"That's how what is?" a small voice asked.

"Hey, Buddy. You've finished your drawing?" Josh said and Danny quickly forgot about his question.

"Yeah, I got it right here," Danny answered and showed his father the back, white side of the drawing.

"Can I see it?" Emily asked the boy as she put her cup down on the counter she was leaning against.

Danny nodded his head and came to stand next to her. He then held up the paper as high as he could reach and Emily carefully took it from him.

"Wow! You're really good at drawing," Emily complimented the boy as she studied the painting. It was a picture of a big, red house, a dark haired woman, a brown haired man and a blond boy. All three of them had a huge smile painted on their faces.

"It's you and me!" Danny smiled.

"I can see that," Emily said and smiled back at him. "Is the red house the scary place?"

By now, Josh had come to stand next to Emily and was also looking at the drawing.

"Mhmm, the bad place which you saved me from," Danny answered, leaning against her and standing on his toes as he tried to look at it.

Emily noticed and held the picture lower. "And there's you, Dad," he said and pointed at the third person standing next to the woman and the boy. "He's happy too because you saved me."

"That I am," Josh agreed and looked from the grinning Danny to the smiling agent.

"Well, I promised. Didn't I?" Emily said looking down at Danny and smoothed down some of the boy's blond curls that insisted on standing in every direction possible.

Danny nodded with enthusiasm.

"Here," Emily said and handed the drawing back to him.

"Dad, can we put it up in my room?" Danny asked and turned to look at his father, still leaning against Emily.

"Sure," Josh answered and smiled as he watched his son do the same.

"But what about when I get my new room?"

"Then we'll put it up there instead."

"Good!" Danny said and took off towards his room in a sprint. "I need to show Bear!"

"Bear?" Emily questioned and turned to Josh who was standing much closer than he had before Danny interrupted them.

"His Teddy Bear," Josh explained.

"Oh, I see."

"I hate to be the one to say this but I think you need to leave soon if you don't want to miss your plane. It's been almost an hour," Josh said as he nodded at the clock.

Emily too looked at the clock and saw that he was right; she needed to call for a cab. "You're right," Emily said much to both Josh's and her own dislike. "I better call a cab."

"I would offer to drive you but I think it would be easier for Danny to say goodbye here and not at the airstrip."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind."

They began walking towards the door as Emily made her phone call. When she had put her phone away, Josh asked her a question.

"Is it okay if he call sometime?"

"Of course," Emily replied without hesitation.

"And is it okay if I call? Even if it's not to talk about what's going on with Danny?" Josh said and locked eyes with her as she turned to face him.

Emily stared into his blue eyes and then the damn feeling was back. "I'd like that."

"Great," Josh smiled at her. He then reached out to remove the stubborn strand of hair from her face.

"Um, thanks," Emily said as he did and felt herself blush slightly.

Josh then reached for her jacket and handed it to her. "You okay?" he asked Emily as she made a face while putting it on.

"Yeah, I'm good," she assured him.

"I guess I'd better call for Danny then," Josh said and called for his son.

Seconds later the boy came running into the hallway. Apparently he was always running, full of energy Emily noticed as she recalled that he had in fact never walked to a place during the hours she had been there. He was always running.

"Emily's leaving," Josh told Danny as he stopped next to him.

"Already?" he asked looking at Emily.

"I have to catch a plane," Emily replied.

"You're going on a vacation?"

Emily chuckled at the boy's logic. "No, I'm going home."

"Oh. Why don't I ever get to go on a plane when I'm going home?" Danny asked his father.

Both Josh and Emily laughed at the question.

"Because you don't have that far to travel when you're going home. And besides, I thought you liked the car."

"I do, the car is cool," Danny grinned and beamed at the grown ups who chuckled lightly.

"I better get going then," Emily said as she realised how much time must have passed since she called for her cab.

"Time to say goodbye," Josh urged his son.

Danny immediately flung himself at Emily and she reached out to catch him. "Bye!" Danny said and gave her a big, big hug.

"Bye, Danny-Boy," she said and hugged him back. She then put him down on the floor while her ribs protested wildly.

Then it was Josh's turn to say goodbye. He too wanted to give her a hug but settled on a handshake as he thought that it would be more appropriate. "Goodbye," he said. "And once again, thank you."

"You're welcome," Emily smiled and then let go off his hand. She was just about to turn to leave when a voice stopped her from doing so.

"Can I have one more hug?" Danny asked shyly as he hid behind his father's legs.

"You don't have to ask," Emily said, turned and squatted down. "Come here," she urged and waved for him.

The boy then hurried towards her with a huge smile plastered on his face and crashed into her in one last big hug.

After receiving the last hug from the boy Emily waved goodbye to the two and stepped outside before taking the stairs down to the cab waiting for her at the street.

* * *

_A/N: I think that went quite well, don't you? Anyways, I have one more chapter to go then this story will sadly be over. See you then!_


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: We're finally here. The last chapter. Now, go on and enjoy!_

* * *

**Hide &amp; Seek**

**A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

**by Sweda**

* * *

"Where you've been?" Morgan asked Emily as soon as she put a foot inside the plane.

Everyone but Hotch were already seated inside the jet.

"Visiting a friend," Emily answered vaguely and immediately tried to change the topic. "Where's Hotch?"

"He got a phone call from Moore when we were at the hospital and he had to leave. He'll be here soon," Reid said without looking up from the game of chess he and Rossi were playing.

"You have a friend who lives in Utah?" Morgan asked in disbelief as he steered the conversation back to its original topic.

"Yes."

"Really?" JJ joined the conversation. "What's this _friend's _name?"

"Cindy," Emily lied and said the first name that popped up in her head. She wanted to keep some parts of her life private, Dylan had already made sure she had to tell the team more about it than she would've liked.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," JJ mumbled knowingly. She knew very well who the agent had visited after having fled from the hospital.

Emily walked down the aisle and found herself an unoccupied, lone seat. She was hoping to be left alone for a while to deal with her emotions, but also to make a very much needed phone call. It was easier to do both if you didn't sit next to anyone.

She sat down, buckled up and decided to begin with the call. She would have the whole flight to deal with her thoughts. She picked up her phone and dialled the number she knew by heart.

"Hey, it's me," she said as she heard someone pick up.

"_Em! I haven't heard from you in ages," _a male voice answered.

"Yeah, I know. Tom, I'm sorry."

"_No need to apologise, I know it's hard to find time to call with your work. So, why are you calling?"_

"Just to check up on you. To see if life is treating you well. You know, the usual," Emily deliberately avoided mentioning the real reason for picking up the phone and dialling his number.

"_Some people might fall for that but not me, Emily. What's going on?"_

Emily sighed. He always saw right through her lies, always had. "Rough case," she said.

"_How bad?" _

"It was a kid and teenagers involved," Emily sighed.

"_How are you holding up?"_

"I'm okay."

Neither of them said anything, they both let the silence linger.

After a while Emily decided it was time to keep the conversation going, it was she who had called after all. "How's Declan?"

There, she had revealed the real reason behind her call. Danny's resemblance to the boy had eaten at her ever since she had first looked at his picture. She needed to hear that he was okay and doing well.

Tom then understood the real reason for her calling but he didn't comment on it as he knew it would only make her defensive or something like that. He knew how attached she had gotten to Declan during her time spent with Doyle and cases involving kids could sometimes make her past and present collide.

"_He's doing great. He's keeping up his good grades and his love for Lacrosse just keeps growing."_

"Good," Emily said and nodded slowly, it was what she needed to hear.

"_You could come visit, you know,"_ Tom told her.

Emily shook her head even though she knew he couldn't see it. "No, I can't. It would bring up too many bad memories."

"_I doubt it, Em. But if you say so, it's your call. But you should know that you're always welcome."_

"Thanks," Emily half-smiled. "I should probably turn off my phone now as I'm sitting in an airplane about to take off," she continued and glanced at Hotch who had just arrived and was currently speaking to the pilot.

"_Yeah, I think that's wise."_

"Bye."

"_One more question first,"_ Tom said just as she was about to hang up. _"You sure you're okay?"_

Emily smiled and leaned her head back against the seat. For as long as she had known him, he had never stopped worrying about her. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"_Okay. Bye, Emily. And I honestly think we should get better at calling each other than just once in a while."_

Emily laughed lightly. "I agree. Bye, Silly."

She removed the phone from her ear as she ended the call. She then shoved it down her front pocket and leaned back against the seat. Her heavy eyelids had just started to close when she felt the plane take off and Hotch called for their attention.

She mentally whined and rubbed her eyes tiredly before turning to look at Hotch who was sitting in one of the seats placed by the small table that was now holding a chessboard.

"I'd like to fill you in on the reason for the Detective calling me earlier. It was because he found some very important evidence filling in the gaps we've had in this case," Hotch informed them as everyone's attention was focused on him.

"When the bomb techs had defused all armed bombs, the police was allowed to enter the building again to conduct an investigation." He only paused briefly before continuing. "While examining the body of Stuart Lockwood, the ME found a set of car keys that the detectives later traced back to a car parked in an alley behind the building. The car they found was the same car that could be seen on the surveillance footage Garcia managed to get her hands on."

"We're talking about the car that was used to transport Morgan from the parking lot, right?" JJ asked to be sure she was following and cast an apologetic glance at Morgan.

"Exactly," Hotch nodded. "They then found a GPS inside the car with data saved from the last places it had been driven to. Moore then put Anderson on driving to the addresses in hopes of finding out where the killer had been staying during all this time. And Anderson got lucky. He found a tiny apartment in a crappy neighbourhood, which Lockwood probably rented using a bogus name and therefore didn't turn up during the search of properties in his legal name. From what I saw and heard, I doubt the building manager asked for an ID before renting out his apartments," Hotch said and made a disapproving face. "But it's what they found inside that's most valuable for making the case."

"Let me guess," Rossi mused. "A map of where he had left all his victims?"

"Yes, that too," Hotch admitted. "But they also found newspaper clippings of the murders and a journal describing the killings and the crime scenes in exacting detail. After the BAU had arrived, we became his main focus and after that we were featured on almost every page. When having read about us in the journal, the detective called me and asked me to join them. When I had arrived, I read the journal and learned a few things. Apparently the UnSub had been following us around to the different crime scenes, the Station and the hotel. Since we never noticed him, and Prentiss kept messing with his game, he decided on a plan to kidnap you, Morgan, to mess with her instead. He had described in the smallest detail how he would accomplish this and when you left to pick up the food, the opening he had been waiting for appeared. So, the reason he knew you would be at that specific diner was because he followed you there from the Station," Hotch said and looked at Morgan.

"He was a smart son of a bitch," Morgan remarked and shook his head.

"That he was," Rossi agreed.

"The body will soon be released to his mother and the case will be officially closed after the final reports have been handed in," the Team Leader finished his story.

"Then it's finally over," JJ sighed.

"Yes. It is," Hotch nodded.

"About time," Emily said dryly. "I've had enough of Utah and ponds and kidnappings and bullets. What I need now is a bed, a comfortable one that is."

The team laughed at her statement. But she had spoken the truth, what they all needed were many hours of comfortable sleep.

"I don't expect any of you to work tomorrow. You all deserve a day off after the week we've had. As to you two," Hotch said and looked at Morgan and Emily, "We'll discuss your medical leave and assignments for the next couple of weeks on Wednesday, after the reports are done."

"I don't need to take any time off," Emily quickly replied.

"We'll discuss it on Wednesday," Hotch said and looked at Emily. "Now, I'm going to take a nap and I'll leave you to what ever you feel like doing as long as it doesn't involve waking me up."

Hotch rose from his seat and walked to the back of the plane and sank down in an empty chair.

"You up for a game of cards?" Emily heard Reid ask someone before she turned to the window. The position wasn't very comfortable but it was the best she could find at the moment and after a few minutes, the pain seemed to fade.

She was planning on sorting out her conflicted emotions but felt the sleep creep up on her. She closed her eyes and breathed out heavily. She could deal with them later, right now some sleep sounded more appealing. Moments after making her decision she drifted off to a dreamless sleep and slept throughout the whole trip back home.

* * *

"Come on, the team is landing any minute now. It's time for you to go home."

"But I promised I would be there to greet them," Garcia argued as she turned to face her boyfriend who had just entered her lair.

"I can take you there if you want, but it's late and I doubt they would blame you if you called to say that you'll visit tomorrow. You have barely slept since they left town and that beautiful brain of yours won't function much longer if you don't let it rest."

Garcia felt her boyfriend's soft hands land on her shoulders and then he started massaging them gently.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she answered as she leaned back in her chair and looked up at Kevin.

She then rose from her seat and happily accepted the help Kevin offered with putting on her coat.

"Can't we stay at your place tonight?" Garcia asked as she put her left arm through the sleeve.

"Sure, anything you want, Plum Sauce," Kevin said and gave her temple a kiss.

Hand in hand they left the building after Garcia had called to say she would be visiting tomorrow. They were both smiling because of each other and the beautiful thing they had together.

* * *

Hotch had woke her up after they had landed and she had, in a dazed state, walked down the stairway. It was dark outside but the lights from the city thankfully made it possible for her to see where she was putting her feet.

When she had reached solid ground, Morgan had offered to drive her home. At first she told him no but he kept insisting on doing so. She kept telling him that he didn't need to and that he was hurt, too, when he tried to play the 'you're injured card'.

He finally won the argument after telling her that she would be a danger to others if she drove through the city as tired as she was at the moment. Having him drive her home would let her doze off as many times as she liked without risking the lives of innocent people. She could take the subway to pick her car up tomorrow afternoon, she concluded as she climbed inside Morgan's car.

* * *

As JJ stepped down the stairway her eyes sought out her waiting husband. She walked to meet him and when she reached him, she burrowed herself in his arms and let the familiar feeling of Will's arms around her give her comfort. She squeezed a little harder and felt him giving her a loving kiss on the top of her head. She then pulled back slightly and gave him one of her own.

"I've missed that," Will smiled after the kiss had ended.

"Me too," JJ said and gave him another one.

"Shall we get going?" he asked as he picked up her bag and rested his arm around her waist.

"Yes, we shall."

JJ turned her head and gave the team one last wave before she walked to the car with Will.

* * *

After Reid had finished playing a couple rounds of cards with JJ on the plane back home he had started reading a new book that he was planning on finishing before going to bed, even though it was rather late.

When he got home, he dumped his bag on the floor by the door and went, with the book in his hand, to sit in his favourite armchair. He only had a couple of hundred pages left and even though he was tired, the book had left him with a lot of unanswered questions that he really wanted to get a few answers to. And he was curious of how it would end.

So, despite going to bed might have been the most responsible decision, he folded his legs beneath him and snuggled up in his beloved armchair under the thin blanket he had gotten from his mother when he was younger. He then started reading.

* * *

He opened the big, wooden door to his dark house and was attacked by a furry beast.

"Hey, Mudgie!" Rossi greeted the dog as he bent down to pet him.

Mudgie barked in delight as his owner spoiled him with love.

"You've missed me?"

A loud bark and a tail wagging from side to side answered his question. His four-legged companion then threw himself onto his back and turned his belly towards him.

"I've missed you too," Rossi smiled and moved his hand from Mudgie's head to the dog's belly.

Apparently Mudgie thought a belly rub was the perfect way for him to make up for being gone for so long and Rossi happily complied.

"Come on. Let us get something to eat before going to bed," he said after having spent quite a while making up for the time he had been gone.

Rossi began walking towards the kitchen with Mudgie behind him, happily wagging his tail whit his tongue hanging far outside his mouth.

* * *

Hotch let himself into the apartment as quietly as possible. Inside it was dark, except for the TV illuminating the room.

"Hey," a soft voice greeted him from the couch.

"Hey, yourself," Hotch said and walked over to lean on the back of the couch, placing his hands on either side of Beth's head.

"You want to talk about the case? When you called, it sounded like a bad one."

Hotch sighed. It had been a hard one. "Yes, let me just check in on Jack first, okay?"

"Sure, I'll be here when you get back," Beth smiled up to him.

Hotch gave her a upside-down kiss before he walked into Jack's room. Inside the small room lay his Jack safely tucked away in his bed. As Hotch watched his son take deep, even breaths he thought about what Emily had said to him after the explosion of the barn.

* * *

"_What if it had been Jack in there?" Emily cut him off, determined to make him listen to her side of the story._

_Hotch was confused. What did Jack have to do with any of this? "It wasn't," he retorted with a stern face while trying to keep the confusion from showing. _

"_But it was somebody's Jack," Emily said in calm voice. _

* * *

Somebody's Jack had made it home because Emily was willing to risk her own life to save another. No matter how many things she had done wrong during the case, he couldn't hold it against her. She had a big heart, sometimes too big for her own good.

And now he was finally home with his Jack.

Hotch walked to the bed and ran his hand softly over his boy's head. The sandy brown hair had become so long. It was time for a haircut and they both knew it, they just never made it to the barber. Maybe he should ask Beth to do it? Either way, it didn't matter. What mattered was that he was home and that he could kiss his son goodnight, even though he was already asleep.

He leaned over and gently kissed his son on the forehead. The love he felt for Jack couldn't be put into words and nothing would stop him from loving him.

Hotch took one last look at his son before exiting the room. He carefully closed the door behind him not wanting to wake the sleeping boy and walked back to Beth.

He sank down on the couch as he loosened his tie.

"Tell me about the case," Beth said as she snuggled closer.

And Hotch did. He told her about everything that had happened, both the good and the bad stuff, as he played with her soft, dark hair.

* * *

Morgan was more than happy that the case was over. The cuts on his chest still hurt and his shoulders ached a little, but the worst pain was gone.

The cuts that had healed enough had started to itch but it could have been much worse, he concluded as he scratched one of the wounds that was particularly bothering him.

He also thought about his crazy ass partner and how the case had affected both him and her. It had been a long time since he had worried this much about her while working on a case and he hoped that it wouldn't happen again.

He couldn't blame her though. She had only done what she thought was right, well except for getting downright drunk in her hotel room. That night still hurt to think about and he hoped that after that night, she would open up to him more, or at least to someone.

He felt his eyelids getting heavier as he drove home after dropping Emily off and he wished that he would be able to end up in a peaceful sleep once he reached his bed.

* * *

Morgan had just driven off after she had thanked him for the ride when her phone started on her familiar ringtone. She let go of the key she had inserted to the door and let the rest of metal keys hang there while she reached for her phone to answer the call.

The call became a pleasant surprise compared to the other calls she had received from an unknown number during the last couple of days.

"_Hi, it's Josh. I'm not waking you or anything, am I?"_

"No, I'm just about to go inside actually," she answered.

"_Good. I was just calling to make sure the flight went okay."_

The fact that he was calling to make sure she had gotten home safely made her think even better of him. The kindness of his words made her face light up in a smile.

"Yeah, everything went fine. I pretty much slept the entire time," she confessed and turned the key.

Josh laughed softly. _"That doesn't surprise me. But sleeping on planes can be rather uncomfortable so I'm guessing it didn't make much of a difference."_

"No, I'm pretty much as tired as I was when I fell asleep," Emily replied.

"_Then I won't keep you up or away from your reunion with, Sergio was it, right?"_

"I can't believe you remembered that."

"_With an unusual name like that it's hard to forget,"_ he teased.

"Haha, so very funny of you," Emily said in a playful tone while suppressing her amusement.

"_Thank you. I can be quite amusing sometimes."_

Emily chuckled at his retort. She was removing the key from the lock and put the bundle of keys in the pocket of her jacket.

It was late and she was so very tired and even though she wanted to continue the conversation she knew this wasn't the time, she could call some other day when she wasn't as tired.

"I'm sorry but I need to hang up now. Trying to stop my cat from escaping the safety of his home with only one hand isn't something I'm up for tonight," she said.

"_I understand,"_ Josh said in a way that made it sound like he really did. _"Besides, it's late and you better get some sleep soon."_

"Yeah, you too," Emily replied. "Tell Danny I said hi."

"_I will and as soon as we arrive I expect a proper introduction between me and Sergio."_

"I can't promise it will be a nice one," Emily smiled. "If you need any help settling in, I'll be happy to help."

"_Thank you."_

"Good night then."

"_Good night,"_ Josh said. _"Oh, and Agent Prentiss?"_

"You can call me Emily."

"_Okay then. If that's so then you can call me Josh."_

"Josh it is," Emily said and nodded to herself. "You were saying?"

"_Right. Take care and try to stay out of trouble."_

"You too," Emily said. "Both of you," she added.

"_We will. Bye."_

"Bye." She sighed as she ended the call with a simple press on the glass screen.

If it had been any other day and any other time of day, she would have kept the conversation going as she was enjoying talking to Josh, but today her body wasn't up for it. She needed to sleep, a lot, and she needed to sleep now.

She felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier as she pushed the door open, careful not to miss out on a black ball of fur that was trying to sneak past her feet. Thankfully, her companion walking on four legs didn't try anything tonight.

She opened her door and stepped inside, ready to move straight to bed after greeting Sergio with a few stokes.

"_Life and love are like hide and seek. People spend their whole lives looking for love, but when they finally forget to look for it, they find it."_

_\- Unknown_

* * *

_A/N: I would like to say thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited, read or reviewed my story. I never thought it would be this amazing to post a story on this site. And then I'd like to say a special thank you to Shadpup for helping me out and encouraging me to keep writing. If you've scrolled through my reviews you've probably seen that the question if I will write a sequel have come up and the answer is yes. As of now, I'm taking some time off from posting as I will be working on the plot of the sequel so I would recommend you put me on your Author Alert so you'll know when I'm back._


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